NCAA Drops Other Shoe on Northridge

The NCAA, in an indictment of the Cal State Northridge administration and former football coach Ron Ponciano, on Thursday placed Northridge on three years’ probation and banned its football team from postseason play in 2000 for numerous violations in recruiting, ethical conduct and institutional control.

The Division I committee on infractions concluded its 10-month investigation by issuing a 33-page report that included a “public reprimand and censure” of Northridge, which fired Ponciano last July after a 2 1/2-month internal investigation uncovered a litany of alleged rules violations.

The decision also included a two-year provision against Ponciano that requires NCAA approval before he can be hired by a member institution.

The NCAA also imposed penalties against Northridge exceeding those suggested by the school in its report to the NCAA in August. The ruling limits Northridge to 75 football scholarships for 2000-01 and requires the school to continue increased education and compliance programs regarding NCAA requirements.

“The reason for the sanctions and postseason ban was the involvement of such serious recruiting violations,” said Jack H. Friedenthal, chair of the committee on infractions. “Our committee felt, through its deliberations, that the punishment was warranted.”

Northridge suggested a two-year probation for its football program with no postseason ban. But interim President Louanne Kennedy said the school will accept the sanctions and has no plans to appeal.

“Basically, we’re satisfied with the outcome,” Kennedy said. “All the issues addressed by the NCAA were ones we first identified. We feel [the NCAA was] fair. We’ve always understood there may be additional penalties levied against us. We didn’t find any of this surprising. We’re continuing to move ahead in shaping our athletic department.”

The NCAA report heavily criticized Ponciano for demonstrating “willful and blatant disregard” for NCAA rules and acting “contrary to the NCAA’s principles of ethical conduct.”

Specifically, the NCAA said, Ponciano made improper contact with recruits and players enrolled at other schools, and arranged for air transportation, lodging, meals, local transportation, phone calls and junior-college tuition for a recruit visiting Northridge. All are considered major violations by the NCAA.

Other violations included payments to players, supplemental pay for a coaching staff member and granting too many football scholarships.

Ponciano, an assistant at Valley College, was out of town Thursday and unavailable for comment. Scott Campbell, Ponciano’s attorney, called the punishment excessive. He said Ponciano “is reeling” from the decision and continues to consider his legal options.

“The fact is, he’s being made the fall guy,” Campbell said. “Given the magnitude of the things he was found to have done, the sanctions and findings of major violations are complete overkill. The environment that Ponciano was working in . . . there were absolutely no compliance efforts made by the school. There were mixed signals at every turn of the way. There was no clear line of authority.”

The NCAA made clear Ponciano was not the only one to blame.

“The committee also concluded that a lack of institutional control occurred at the university,” the report said.

Northridge “failed to enforce its policy on acceptance of athletically related financial aid donations to an independent booster club, and to maintain control and conduct financial audits of the booster club.”

The administration also failed to monitor Ponciano more closely and provide more education and guidance, the NCAA said.

During the 1998 season, a member of the defunct “Quarterback Club,” a group of athletic boosters, used club funds to pay for 10 post-practice barbecues for players, the report said. Northridge administrators, the NCAA claimed, failed to provide clear guidance whether the barbecues were improper.

Ponciano, according to the report, knowingly committed a recruiting violation by attending a high school basketball game to watch two prospective football recruits compete during a time NCAA rules prohibited contact with recruits. Ponciano and an assistant exchanged greetings with one of the players after the game. Ponciano, the report said, attended the game after discussing with an assistant the possibility that it might be a violation of NCAA rules.

Kennedy, scheduled to be replaced July 1 by Jolene Koester, acknowledged Northridge has been plagued by compliance problems. But she pointed to an almost complete overhaul in the last year of the Northridge administration and said the school’s athletic department will benefit from the ordeal.

Since Northridge launched its investigation in May 1999, the school has hired a new athletic director, Dick Dull, and compliance officer, Darryl Pope. Each held the same position at Maryland and Temple, respectively.

“I think we didn’t have in place at the time all the personnel to make certain that no infractions occurred,” Kennedy said. “I believe we do have those people in place now. Obviously, there is no guarantee that additional issues won’t arise, but I believe we can say with strong certainty that the sanctions they’ve placed on us can actually be helpful to us.

“I don’t want to engage in assessing blame on people who no longer work here. What went on in the past is in the past.”

The much-anticipated decision ends a tumultuous 12-month period that began with school administrators receiving an anonymous letter detailing various improprieties in the football program.

Ponciano, who served one season as head coach, initially called the allegations ridiculous, but the investigation soon led to the resignation of top assistant Rob Phenicie and the firing of Ponciano.

Jeff Kearin, a former assistant to Ponciano, was hired as interim coach and promoted to full-time in December. Kearin, who led the Matadors to a 5-6 record last season and a 4-4 mark in the Big Sky Conference, said he is most troubled by the postseason ban.

Northridge will play one more season in the Big Sky before competing as an independent in 2001.

“That’s the thing that affects our program the most,” Kearin said. “It ends up punishing the kids for something they didn’t do. But the thing about this is, now we’ve put some checks and balances in place and we’re becoming a [better] Division I program. That’s the good that’s going to come of this.”

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PAYING THE PRICE

The NCAA committee on infractions imposed these penalties on Cal State Northridge for recruiting violations, improper ethical conduct by coaches and a lack of institutional control:

* Three years’ probation for the athletic department, concluding on May 31, 2003.

* One year suspension from postseason play for the football team.

* Reduction in football players who can receive scholarships from 85 to 75.

* Former head coach Ron Ponciano must appear before the NCAA committee any time before July 15, 2001, if a university is interested in hiring him.

* During the probationary period, the university must develop and implement a comprehensive educational program on NCAA legislation and provide the NCAA with a report on the establishment of the program, and file annual reports.