FAMU Athletics Placed on 4 Years' Probation

By Nick Birdsong
Black College Wire

Photo credit: University of Buffalo Nelson Townsend

Rubin Carter, Florida A&M University's football head coach, sat somewhat restlessly at a Feb. 1 news conference alongside Mike Gillespie, the men's head basketball coach. They awaited the NCAA's final decision on more than 200 violations in all-university sports from 1998 to 2004.

The verdict:

The NCAA's Division 1 Committee on Infractions has placed the athletic department on four years' probation ending Jan. 31, 2010, among other penalties. The 10-member committee cited a "lack of institutional control," in addition to the violations.

The committee also found "insufficient evidence" to support an allegation against former head football coach Billy Joe, who was removed from his position in June. Joe has filed suit against the university. At the time of his dismissal, the winningest coach in school history had two years left on his contract, at an annual base salary of $135,000.

Part of the punishment is a reduction in grants and aid to all FAMU sports, newly appointed Athletic Director Nelson Townsend announced.

Baseball grants are to be reduced by three, beginning this season. Grants in men's and women's swimming and women's track -- reduced by two. Men's and women's basketball, men's track and field, bowling, softball and volleyball are to each lose one grant beginning this year. Women's track loses an additional grant in 2006-07.

Football was hit hardest, losing 14 grants in all. Six have already been taken away. The remaining eight are to be subtracted over the next three years, ending at the conclusion of the 2008-09 season.

As a result of the penalties, practice time for the football team is to be reduced by 20 hours.

The violations surfaced after an earlier investigation, prompting the university to hastily enact a harsh self-imposed penalty, cutting numerous scholarships and prohibiting post-season play.

In the aftermath of that discovery, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) stripped FAMU of 11 conference titles.

Nevertheless, the setbacks, made official the day of the news conference, sounded like sweet music to coaches and athletic department officials in attendance.

Most expected things to turn out a lot worse.

Townsend credited Interim FAMU President Castell V. Bryant for working in conjunction with NCAA officials to reduce the self-imposed penalty to "what we would consider realistic to the crime that had been committed.

"Even though the penalties are serious, they by no means rank in accordance with the self-imposed penalties that you heard in the past," said Townsend.

"And the dreaded results many of us hesitantly looked forward to did not become a reality."

A feeling of relief resonated throughout the cramped room.

"This really helped our program move forward," said Carter of the new ruling.

"The loss of 28 scholarships would have been athletic suicide. We never would have been able to survive that. Football would have been dead."

You could hear the men's basketball team celebrating down the hallway that runs from Gaither Gymnasium to the Rattlers locker room. Coach Gillespie's Rattlers, who are 6-3 in the MEAC, are now eligible to compete in the MEAC and the NCAA tournaments if they win the conference.

The previous penalties had affected recruiting.

The men's basketball team signed three junior college transfers, but has not been able to go out and actively recruit any high school players. On Feb. 1, national signing day for college football, the Rattlers inked 21 prep prospects for next year's squad.

The violations were a result of what the NCAA described as an understaffed and inadequately funded compliance department under former compliance director Jonathan Evans.

The entire department has been revamped since. Evans has been replaced by Marilyn Jones, a former official in the University of South Carolina's athletic department.

The department's staff includes a compliance coordinator and four athletic advisers.

Townsend also said the university will be holding compliance training sessions for the entire athletic department.

The changes "are going to make all the difference in the world," Bryant said.

"We're not going to have this problem again. We're moving forward."

Nick Birdsong, a student at Florida A&M University, writes for the Famuan. He can be reached at [email protected]

Posted Feb. 6, 2006