Arizona State gets two years' probation for infractions
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State was placed on two years' probation by the NCAA yesterday for providing improper benefits to former football player Loren Wade and other irregularities in the athletic department's operations.
The penalty is the same as one already instituted by the Pac-10 and does not punish any of the school's athletic teams. The infractions initially were uncovered by an internal investigation by the university and were reported to the conference and NCAA.
''Everything that was pointed out in this investigation and in our own investigation has already been corrected," said Virgil Renzuli, Arizona State vice president for public affairs.
Gene Marsh, a law professor at Alabama, chaired the investigating committee. In a statement, Marsh said Arizona State should be commended for responding quickly when it found the violations and reported them.
The NCAA found Arizona State guilty of a ''lack of institutional control," the only finding disputed by the university.
The investigation stemmed from the discovery that Wade had received improper help from a compliance assistant.
The NCAA said the compliance assistant allowed Wade to use her car, arranged for his utilities to be opened under her name to save a $200 deposit, and allowed him to use her charge account for $900 wheels and tires for his car.
The infractions surfaced in September 2004, and Wade was suspended for the season. In March, Wade was arrested for murder in the death of former football player Brandon Falkner outside a Scottsdale night club. Wade remains jailed on a charge of first-degree murder.
The NCAA probe determined that 61 student-athletes had received excessive amounts of financial aid ranging from $4 to $833.
''All of these violations appeared unintentional and the student-athletes seemed unaware that they had received too much aid," Marsh said. ''However, the widespread and preventable nature of these violations compelled the committee to find lack of institutional control."
