ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 31, 1996 TAG: 9605310032
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
THE HOKIES LOSE one scholarship and one official recruiting visit in addition to self-imposed penalties for violating a holiday travel rule.
The tone of Dave Braine's voice was one of relief Thursday as he announced the NCAA's ruling on improper holiday travel by Virginia Tech men's basketball players.
That's not to say Braine was or wasn't pleased with the findings. He was just glad the case was closed.
``Any time you have a violation, until you get word back, there's not a minute when you breathe easily,'' said Braine, the Hokies' athletic director. ``Personally, I'm disappointed that we had to go through the whole thing.''
The NCAA agreed with Tech that the violations were secondary in nature, but added sanctions to those imposed by the school at the time of its self-report.
Additional sanctions included the loss of one scholarship in either the 1996-97 or 1997-98 school year, and the loss of one official recruiting visit for 1996-97.
The loss of the paid visit was the more severe penalty because it is based on a four-year average. Tech, which has entertained an average of four prospects in each of the past four seasons, may bring only three to campus next year.
``I'm going to be honest with you,'' Braine said. ``I've never been through this before, so I didn't know what to expect. I feel like the sanctions we imposed were pretty severe, so in a way it's fortunate that we got a slap on the wrist rather than a major penalty.''
Tech hired Dale Smith, a former assistant commissioner of the Metro Conference, to do its report. The NCAA accepted his recommendations: only two coaches being allowed to recruit off-campus during July, and recruiting evaluation days being cut by 20 percent for 1996-97.
Although three coaches normally would be allowed to recruit off-campus in July, no more than two could be out at the same time. As for the recruiting evaluations, they will be cut from 40 to 32.
Braine said he did not know which of Tech's coaches would come off the road. Bill Foster, the Hokies' head coach, is in Europe and could not be reached for comment.
``We wish to make it clear that no member of the Tech basketball staff was involved in the violations,'' Braine said in a statement released by the school.
Braine cleared his schedule of appointments Thursday afternoon in order to answer questions from the media. He said the violations occurred when players flew home before re-joining the team at the site of holiday tournaments.
``You are allowed to pay for that part of the trip from their home to the tournament and then back to the university,'' Braine said. ``Well, the tickets are booked for them to go home, too, and they have to pay for that part of the ticket up front.
``The money was paid back, but it was not paid back in a timely fashion. It involved more than one player and more than one year. The way it was written in the report, the NCAA viewed it as a misinterpretation of one of its bylaws.
``Of our 21 sports at the time, that was the only one in which we hadn't made a change in institutional control. Travel was one thing we didn't change because it hadn't been a problem before. At least we had a system of checks and balances in place that allowed us to catch it.''
Assistant athletic director Steve Horton, who serves as Tech's compliance coordinator, said the Hokies could appeal the NCAA ruling but might not benefit from re-opening the case.
Tech already has given out all of its scholarships for 1996-97, so, in all likelihood, the Hokies will take the scholarship reduction for 1997-98. That would mean Tech could replace four of its five scholarship seniors.
That might not be easy with three paid visits at its disposal. Under normal circumstances, a Division I men's basketball program may bring as many as 15 prospects to campus for ``official'' visits.
``I think what the NCAA is saying is, `If we cut the number of visits from 15 to 14, that's really not a penalty because you never use 14,''' said Horton, an ex-NCAA official. ``That's why they take the average.''
It could be argued that Tech is being penalized for being efficient and not entertaining 15 players per year. This year, the Hokies signed four of the seven players who visited.
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