An earlier thread did a deep dive on Mike Boynton's emotional reaction to NCAA penalties handed to his Oklahoma State Basketball program even despite his efforts at cooperation in an investigation into what sounds like a very minor offense. I've been doing some research into South Carolina's entry into the SEC, and I thought this was interesting context on how the NCAA has changed over the years, and how at one time, cooperation was rewarded:
Cooperation paid off handsomely for the USC athletic department in the immediate post-Joe Morrison era. In the fall of 1988, Sports Illustrated published the explosive Tommy Chaikin expose, pulling back the curtain on the steroids problem at Carolina during the Morrison years. For anyone who hasn't read it, it was really, really bad. Not only did Chaikin allege that upwards of half the 1986 team was on steroids, but he further alleged that four assistant coaches were involved in providing steroids to players, and that both Morrison and then AD Marcum knew about it and did nothing. Three of the four assistant coaches were convicted of the alleged improprieties.
Morrison died in January, 1989, and squeaky-clean Sparky Woods was brought in to right the ship. Former AD Bob Marcum took the brunt of the blame for failure to monitor the drug testing program and he was fired, after which he filed suit and won a year's salary plus some. King Dixon, like Woods, was brought in to clean up the athletic department's tarnished image.
Layer onto this situation a tectonic shift in the landscape of college athletics in the coming year, as conferences looked to expand to maximize television money. USC hoped for a return to the ACC, but there was also talk of the SEC, an expanded Metro, or possibly another east coast conglomeration of major independents, including Miami, Penn State, Florida State and West Virginia. There was even talk of joining the Big East. One universal truth everyone recognized, the status quo of Independent status in football and Metro membership in other sports was not going to be feasible moving forward.
The ACC demurred on a USC return, as it had for nearly 20 years, and then set its sites on FSU. Nobody wanted an expanded Metro. USC set it's sites on the SEC, which had added Arkansas as it's 11th member in August, 1990, and was looking for a 12th. Like the ACC, FSU was the SEC's prime target. It appeared Miami was in the mix too. South Carolina appeared to be a third choice, with an NCAA investigation hanging over it's head like a guillotine
Dixon and interim president Arthur K Smith cooperated with the NCAA on a grand scale, producing a 200-page internal report and working closely to ensure all "I's were dotted and all "t's" were crossed. Still, the NCAA had never dealt with a steroid or drug-related abuse issue before, and uncertainty over how it would approach such a thing caused many sleepless nights among USC administrators. Given that USC was already on probation due to a violation by the basketball program under former coach Bill Foster, the specter of lack of institutional control was ever present. The SMU death penalty sanctions were still fresh in the memory of administrators everywhere.
Smith and Dixon, along with Woods and new head basketball coach Felton flew to Kansas City for the NCAA hearing on the steroids case. What followed was a week of uncertainty. The future viability of USC's athletic fortunes hung in the balance.
When the NCAA announced it's findings and penalties, USC officials couldn't believe the results. USC received a hand-slap. Incredibly, no new penalties were assessed. USC's current probation from the 1986 investigation was extended six months. That was it. That was all. One of the major scandals in college sports of that era ended in a whimper. USC's future suddenly seemed worth considering again.
By late September, FSU had spurned Roy Kramer for the ACC, and Miami chose to pursue an expanding Big East, which led the SEC to invite South Carolina with universal support among membership institutions.
This is not to be taken as a defense of the NCAA's current tactics and foibles, but a reminder that at one time at least, cooperation did pay off.
Cooperation paid off handsomely for the USC athletic department in the immediate post-Joe Morrison era. In the fall of 1988, Sports Illustrated published the explosive Tommy Chaikin expose, pulling back the curtain on the steroids problem at Carolina during the Morrison years. For anyone who hasn't read it, it was really, really bad. Not only did Chaikin allege that upwards of half the 1986 team was on steroids, but he further alleged that four assistant coaches were involved in providing steroids to players, and that both Morrison and then AD Marcum knew about it and did nothing. Three of the four assistant coaches were convicted of the alleged improprieties.
Morrison died in January, 1989, and squeaky-clean Sparky Woods was brought in to right the ship. Former AD Bob Marcum took the brunt of the blame for failure to monitor the drug testing program and he was fired, after which he filed suit and won a year's salary plus some. King Dixon, like Woods, was brought in to clean up the athletic department's tarnished image.
Layer onto this situation a tectonic shift in the landscape of college athletics in the coming year, as conferences looked to expand to maximize television money. USC hoped for a return to the ACC, but there was also talk of the SEC, an expanded Metro, or possibly another east coast conglomeration of major independents, including Miami, Penn State, Florida State and West Virginia. There was even talk of joining the Big East. One universal truth everyone recognized, the status quo of Independent status in football and Metro membership in other sports was not going to be feasible moving forward.
The ACC demurred on a USC return, as it had for nearly 20 years, and then set its sites on FSU. Nobody wanted an expanded Metro. USC set it's sites on the SEC, which had added Arkansas as it's 11th member in August, 1990, and was looking for a 12th. Like the ACC, FSU was the SEC's prime target. It appeared Miami was in the mix too. South Carolina appeared to be a third choice, with an NCAA investigation hanging over it's head like a guillotine
Dixon and interim president Arthur K Smith cooperated with the NCAA on a grand scale, producing a 200-page internal report and working closely to ensure all "I's were dotted and all "t's" were crossed. Still, the NCAA had never dealt with a steroid or drug-related abuse issue before, and uncertainty over how it would approach such a thing caused many sleepless nights among USC administrators. Given that USC was already on probation due to a violation by the basketball program under former coach Bill Foster, the specter of lack of institutional control was ever present. The SMU death penalty sanctions were still fresh in the memory of administrators everywhere.
Smith and Dixon, along with Woods and new head basketball coach Felton flew to Kansas City for the NCAA hearing on the steroids case. What followed was a week of uncertainty. The future viability of USC's athletic fortunes hung in the balance.
When the NCAA announced it's findings and penalties, USC officials couldn't believe the results. USC received a hand-slap. Incredibly, no new penalties were assessed. USC's current probation from the 1986 investigation was extended six months. That was it. That was all. One of the major scandals in college sports of that era ended in a whimper. USC's future suddenly seemed worth considering again.
By late September, FSU had spurned Roy Kramer for the ACC, and Miami chose to pursue an expanding Big East, which led the SEC to invite South Carolina with universal support among membership institutions.
This is not to be taken as a defense of the NCAA's current tactics and foibles, but a reminder that at one time at least, cooperation did pay off.
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