Unsanctioned dinners to cost Tigers

Each returning member of the men's basketball team will be required to pay $84 to charity in order to offset the costs of unsanctioned team dinners that took place last season under then-head coach Joe Scott '87.

Senior Associate Director of Athletics Erin McDermott confirmed that the series of dinners was ruled a secondary rules violation by the NCAA. Players stand to lose their eligibility to compete in the upcoming season if they don't pay the penalty.

On top of the game-day meals that the NCAA allows teams to provide to their players, roughly five "occasional meals" are granted to each team every season — meals funded by alumni, fellows or boosters as special events. The Tigers exceeded the allowed number of occasional meals last season, a fact of which the Department of Athletics became aware when conducting an accounting review in September, after noticing an excessive number of charges from dining services.

"We generally do not discuss secondary rules violations in public because they happen somewhat frequently and are not particularly serious," McDermott said. "There is a process for dealing with this. When we realized that there might be a problem, we notified the NCAA, and they gave us their verdict, which we have to impose."

McDermott estimates that the University commits between six and 12 NCAA secondary rule violations per year. Secondary rule violations are defined as either isolated or inadvertent and do not involve major extra benefits.

The specific circumstances surrounding the meals remain unclear, but the rules violation constitutes another blot on the legacy of Scott, who left the Tigers to accept the head coaching position at the University of Denver after three disappointing years at Princeton. Scott was replaced by Sydney Johnson '97 after the Tigers slipped to last place in the Ivy League last season with a 2-12 record.

When the University hires a coach, he or she is given both an NCAA and Ivy League rule book and is expected to act according to the guidelines stated in those books. A coach with a question is told to contact McDermott, who can lend a second opinion, but for the most part coaches are left to monitor themselves as far as issues like meal regulation.

"We work on an honor system; it is a very trusting relationship," McDermott said. "We expect coaches to ask questions when they are in doubt, and we are prepared to help them better understand the rules."

The NCAA allows players to receive free meals only on the day of a game. Away teams are granted the typical three meals a day, and home teams are allowed a "pre-game meal," as well as a substitute for any other meal they might miss because of the competition. Any other meal purchased for players must fall under the category of the occasional meals stipulated by the NCAA.

Scott never explicitly asked McDermott about the additional meals, and as a result, Athletics remained unaware of the violation until last month.

NCAA rules are clear with regard to the penalties for such an offense. In any case of impermissible benefits, such as this one, the involved players lose their eligibility until they donate the amount received to the charity of their choice. Once a player pays off his portion of the infraction, his eligibility is restored for the upcoming season. As of yesterday afternoon, the University had not yet received reimbursements from every player involved.

Once all the players have paid the $84, the violation will be forgiven, and the Tigers can get back to the task at hand — rebuilding a once-proud program. As for any permanent changes to the relationship between coaches and the Department of Athletics with regard to potential infractions, McDermott feels that longterm ramifications will be negligible.

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"There will not be any significant changes," McDermott said. "We try to use these incidents as educational opportunities, as a way of fully understanding a rule that might be somewhat obscure, and through this system, hopefully avoid a similar violation in the future."