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Academic Cheating May Throw FSU For A Big Loss

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By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - When Florida State University officials first acknowledged in late September that the school was conducting an internal investigation into academic misconduct in an online course, FSU's initial report to the NCAA included only 23 student-athletes in nine sports.

Tuesday, FSU painted a more disturbing picture of the cheating scandal, announcing that as many as 25 football players - several thought to be starters - will be suspended for the Dec. 31 Music City Bowl against Kentucky. Those players could face additional punishment at the start of next season if they are determined to be connected to the scandal.

Amid growing interest in the probe that dates to March when school officials were first tipped about an athletics department learning specialist and two tutors providing improper academic support to student-athletes - prompting FSU President T.K. Wetherell to order the internal investigation - FSU's football program is at the center of the scandal after Tuesday's news.

"Some of our players will not travel with us to the bowl game," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said in a prepared statement. "We have some players not traveling for one reason and some for another, including those who are ineligible for the bowl because of academic issues. We cannot be more specific than that at this time."

With so many doubts surrounding which players FSU will have available when it plays Kentucky, Las Vegas bookmakers have removed the game from the betting lines, a rare occurrence.

The school has no plans to release names of players suspended specifically due to their involvement in the probe, citing federal privacy laws. In recent weeks, investigators have reinterviewed football players and other student-athletes they suspect of lying about receiving test answers for the online course, a three-credit Humanities class that has since been vacated by the university.

FSU is in the final stages of its internal investigation, aided in the process by The Compliance Group, a private agency owned by former NCAA investigator Chuck Smrt, which assists schools in dealing with issues that involve NCAA rules and eligibility concerns.

Lee Hinkle, FSU's vice president for university relations, said Tuesday the final report will probably not be forwarded to the NCAA until early next year.

"My understanding is we're not ready at this point," Hinkle said. "We want to make sure that we've got complete information and that we have dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's. We are trying to be very, very careful."

Online Class Tests Moved To Center

To help protect against another scandal of this nature, FSU has moved all tests for online classes to a testing center that requires a pass code for students to enter, said FSU Provost Larry Abele, chairman of the university's four-person investigative committee.

Since FSU first launched its probe, several behind-the-scenes athletics department officials have resigned, including Brenda Monk, the academic adviser who allegedly provided test results to student-athletes, along with the two tutors. Monk has turned down multiple interview requests since resigning in July.

Besides Monk leaving her post, three members of outgoing FSU Athletics Director Dave Hart's staff have resigned amid the probe. They are: Senior Associate Athletics Directors Charlie Carr and Pam Overton, and most recently, Kim Record, a senior associate athletics director for women's sports who resigned Monday.

Wetherell is on vacation in Montana and was unavailable for comment on Tuesday. However, at a recent news conference to name Bill Proctor the school's interim athletics director, Wetherell acknowledged the cheating scandal was more widespread than originally thought.

"Clearly, we have some challenges before us with the NCAA," Wetherell said. "We have some issues that we have to explain. And quite frankly, we probably have to apologize to some of our fans and supporters."

NCAA Investigators Visit Campus

NCAA investigators have appeared on campus, and at the NCAA's urging, FSU conducted a more thorough probe that resulted in more football players being implicated. As of Tuesday, only two football players have been publicly linked to the case, senior receiver Joslin Shaw of Plant City and sophomore defensive end Kevin McNeil. Shaw was forced to sit out FSU's first four games before being cleared. McNeil missed the entire season. With news that nearly a third of the 85-man roster could be unavailable for the Music City Bowl, FSU's coaching staff is scrambling to cope.

"Kentucky would be a tough opponent when we are at full strength, so clearly this will make things more difficult," Bowden said in the statement. "Our staff is in the process of determining what adjustments we must make for the game. We will have a few practices to get our plans in place."

According to offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, named Bowden's eventual successor last week, that plan doesn't include using freshmen who are being redshirted and have not played this season. "I think that's unfair to the kid," Fisher said. "One football game is not worth a whole year of the guy's future."

FSU starting linebacker Derek Nicholson, who said he is not one of the players involved, admitted the Seminoles are facing a challenge entering their 26th consecutive bowl appearance under Bowden.

"We've just got to come together. We're a team," Nicholson said Tuesday after practice. "We're helping each other out and trying to get through it. What you remember from playing the game of football is how to get through adversity. This is an adverse situation. We're trying to go through it with our heads up high, trying to compete and trying to win."

In the NCAA's only official response to the cheating scandal, one made public to the media in late September and reiterated by a spokesman on Tuesday, Kevin C. Lennon, NCAA vice president for membership services, said, "The NCAA and its member institutions take seriously any allegation of academic misconduct, and "these types of violations are among the most serious that can be committed."

That outlook has FSU officials bracing for possible NCAA sanctions. Until then, the school will try to keep damage to a minimum by keeping any player who could be found guilty of academic fraud on the sideline.

"What we don't want to do is obviously use a player that is ineligible," Wetherell said at his news conference. "We are going through great lengths to make sure we don't do that. We don't want to get into a situation where some other schools have."

Reporter Scott Carter can be reached at (850) 294-3088 or scarter@tampatrib.com.

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