Exhausted Syracuse takes step

When Syracuse announced it was instituting a self-imposed postseason ban for the men’s basketball team this season, the university was playing for the future — on the court and with NCAA regulators.

Its self-imposed ban is part of a common process now for schools trying to work through infractions, with mixed results in trying to minimize the impact of discipline to teams.

Syracuse has a case pending before the NCAA Committee on Infractions that dates back more than seven years. The school initiated the case, which includes academics, when it selfreported potential athletic department violations to the NCAA in 2007. School officials said in Wednesday’s announcement that none of the conduct occurred after 2012 and no current student-athlete is involved.

“The university has taken this matter seriously and worked with the NCAA for nearly eight years to investigate and address potential rules violations. The process has been exhaustive,” Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud said in a statement. “We have taken responsibility for past violations and worked hard to ensure they are not repeated.”

School officials said there are additional self-imposed penalties that won’t be announced until the NCAA issues its final report.

The ACC acknowledged game officials made a mistake near the end of Wake Forest’s 88-84 win against N.C. State on Tuesday.

Wake Forest forward Devin Thomas should have been called for a flagrant one foul with 40.5 seconds left, ACC head of officials John Clougherty wrote in an email to N.C. State athletics director Debbie Yow on Wednesday.

With 40.5 seconds left and N.C. State’s Ralston Turner at the free-throw line, Thomas drove his left elbow into the chest of N.C. State’s Cody Martin as the two were going for a rebound.

Under NCAA rules, a flagrant one foul is “nonexcessive” contact, such as a player swinging an elbow, and it results in two free throws and possession of the ball.

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