PHOENIX
The NCAA added to self-imposed sanctions by Arizona's men's basketball program yesterday, vacating 19 wins from the 2007-08 season and removing an additional scholarship for violations involving Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson.
The sanctions stem from Olson's involvement with the promoter of two tournaments that were held over a four-year span on the school campus. The university announced its sanctions in February, including the loss of a scholarship for 2011-12 and numerous cutbacks in recruiting visits over the next two seasons.
The NCAA upheld most of those self-imposed sanctions, but determined the school had used two ineligible players in 2007-08 and must vacate wins involving those players and wipe out their statistics. It took away a scholarship for 2012-13 and pushed back a two-year probation period for the program to yesterday instead of starting it in February, as the university had decided earlier.
"You take very seriously the sanctions the institution self imposes, then you weigh that against the gravity of the case and you make a decision whether additional penalties should be imposed," said former Miami AD Paul Dee, chair of the NCAA's infractions committee. "We were pleased that they self imposed what they did, but we went further."
Arizona's self-imposed sanctions included a reduction in the number of recruiting visits by coaches and prospective players, the disbanding of a booster group and implementation of a series of administrative and rules changes to prevent further violations.
The NCAA reduced the number of official visits by recruits to six each over the next two years -- Arizona had imposed 11 in 2009-10, eight for 2010-11 -- and cut a extra10 days of recruiting days for coaches for 2010-11, making it a total reduction of 30.
The university will not appeal the ruling. "We're satisfied that the process has reached a conclusion," said Greg Byrne, Arizona's AD. "We have cooperated throughout and respect the findings of the committee. Now it's time for us to move forward with a focus on maintaining the highest standards of integrity within our entire athletics program."
Olson wasn't reprimanded.
The school noted in its report that Olson was dealing with a number of health issues at the time and it was later revealed by his physician and family that he had suffered a stroke that affected his decision-making abilities.
Olson took a leave of absence in the 2007-08 season and had intended to return for 2008-09, but announced his retirement after attending a few practices.
The NCAA found that Olson failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance, but decided against sanctioning the 75-year-old former coach because he was retired and has health issues.
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