Bribery scandal exposes sports side door to admissions
AUSTIN, TEXAS (AP) >> The latest scandal to taint college athletics hit sports far from the spotlight and exposed a seamy side door into some of the nation’s elite universities: coaches taking bribes to recruit non-athletes and help them ease past tough admissions policies.
Federal indictments unsealed in Boston on Tuesday outlined a sweeping college admissions bribery scandal that ensnared coaches and officials at several top schools. The charges touch lower-profile sports such as tennis, sailing and water polo, which operate well below the scrutiny usually placed on football and basketball recruiting, and have pulled in prestigious schools such as Stanford, Texas, Yale and Southern California.
The indictments expose how coaches and schools use lists of “designated recruits” to bypass
normal admissions requirements, and some of the financial hurdles “nonrevenue” sports may face even within big athletic departments. In several instances, indicted coaches suggested they spent some of the money on their programs, not themselves.
Most NCAA rules that regulate recruiting are designed to prevent schools and coaches from giving improper benefits and enticements to athletes. Federal officials say “Operation Varsity Blues” uncovered parents or college placement services paying coaches to help nonathlete children get into elite schools by falsifying athletic credentials and claiming they were being recruited to play sports.
The schools involved will wait to hear from the NCAA about possible infractions and penalties, and the bribery allegations provide an interesting wrinkle: The schools and coaches didn’t game the admissions process to gain an advantage on the field. But the NCAA does have rules regarding ethical conduct by coaches.
“The charges brought forth today are troubling and should be a concern for all of higher education,” the an NCAA statement said. “We are looking into these allegations to determine the extent to which NCAA rules may have been violated.”