Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 12, 1993 TAG: 9305120178
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Schultz, athletic director at Virginia from 1981-87, made the announcement hours after the release of a report prepared by independent fact-finder James Park.
Park reached the conclusion that Schultz was aware of loans made to student-athletes by the Virginia Student Aid Foundation in violation of NCAA rules that prohibit giving extra benefits to student-athletes.
"I know the conclusion was reached in good faith," Schultz said. "I also know that conclusion is wrong. It's a temptation for me to break down and refute the report point by point, but to do so would not be in the best interest of the association or myself."
Schultz, who twice had received endorsements from the NCAA Executive Committee in the previous four days, said he reached his decision 30 minutes before a telephone news conference Tuesday.
"I can't tell you how many calls and letters I've had telling me I need to stay in this job and tough it out," Schultz, 62, said. "My competitive instincts and my desire to clear my name drive me to do that.
"One of my major goals was to establish a high level of credibility for the NCAA, its processes and its Reaction to Schultz's decision. B1. The player who helped get things started against Schultz. B1. programs. We have achieved that goal. I don't want to contribute to the destruction of something that I've worked so hard for.
"For that reason, I believe it in the best interest of all concerned for me to step down. [But] if you take that as an admission of guilt, you're dead wrong."
Schultz urged the media to read all 166 pages of the Park Report and not just the summary, in which Park based his conclusion in part on the evidence of former UVa football player Willie Snead.
According to the report, Snead contends that he and teammate John Ford (identified in the Park Report as SA-1 and SA-2) went to VSAF Executive Director Ted Davenport at the suggestion of Schultz. Snead, whose car had broken down, received a loan for $1,000 in November 1985.
"I want to emphasize one more time that, while I was at the University of Virginia, I was not aware of loans violating NCAA rules," Schultz said. "I never approved loans for athletes, and I never referred athletes to the Virginia Student Aid Foundation."
Davenport has said Schultz knew of the loans to student-athletes, as did former Assistant Athletic Director Jim West and former Schultz assistant Tom Gearhart. Park conceded, however, that Davenport and West lacked candor.
"Mr. Davenport's lack of memory in areas which might be embarrassing [was] contrasted with his vivid recall of matters which might be helpful in . . . pending litigation," Park wrote.
Snead, who repeatedly was unavailable when Virginia's inquiry group conducted 175 interviews, was a reserve wide receiver for the Cavaliers in 1984-85 before transferring to the University of Florida.
" [Ford] could not be located, and it is not known whether he would corroborate [Snead's] statements," the Park report said. "However, [Snead] was a convincing witness who had no apparent motive to dissemble."
Schultz questioned the faith placed in Snead's statements when they could not be verified by Ford, "but I have to be held to a higher standard and I have no problem with that," he said.
There was little question that Schultz's decision was influenced by the negative media coverage the executive committee received after it voted Thursday to retain him.
"I'm not saying this with any rancor," Schultz said, "but I think there were a lot of cheap shots taken in the last four or five days.
"I just felt if that was the type of thing that was going to continue every time we had an infractions case or I made a decision that was unpopular with one group or another, that it was going to create this perception of the NCAA as a screwed-up organization."
Tom Weir of USA Today was among those who called for Schultz's resignation, although Weir's column Monday hardly would have qualified as a cheap shot. He praised Schultz for his common sense and open mind while allowing that credibility would be a problem.
Said Joseph Crowley, president of the NCAA and chairman of the executive committee: "[On Monday], when it became clear Dick was considering whether he wanted to resign, he said he had a weekend's worth of articles and public-opinion pieces he wanted to review.
"I want to be emphatic on this: We did not meet to revisit our [earlier] discussion. There has been some speculation about that. We talked in terms of, if Dick did wish to resign, we wanted him to know that we were making a strong statement of our support."
Schultz, who is under contract through 1995, said he will remain as executive director until the committee selects a replacement. When Schultz replaced Walter Byers in 1987, that process took six months.
Schultz's announcement came five days after the NCAA Infractions Committee handed down a relatively light penalty that included two years of probation against Virginia, ruling that a four-year statute of limitations applied.
"We did understand our decision [to endorse Schultz] would not be universally accepted and that some would charge we gave preferential consideration to the executive director," Crowley said. "However, the fact is that his position subjected Dick Schultz to greater scrutiny, not less."
by CNB