At Last, No More Baylors?

Ah, yes. NCAA Division I basketball coaches are going to devise INDIVIDUAL codes of ethics for themselves and their players. Every college will have a coach/ethicist! It makes perfect sense. And, the sleazeballs on most basketball coaching staffs: the clipboard coaches (assistants) are required to attend five (5) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT workshops on ethics, recruiting rules, and diversity. The D-I coaches were required to attend the summit conference to clean up collegiate hoops or lose their ticket privileges for the 2004 Final Four. And you wonder WHY I have foresworn NCAA football and basketball? Excuse me, I have to puke! If this be (fair & balanced) revulsion, so be it!

[x CHE]
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Coaches Take Steps to Clean Up College Basketball's Image
By ALICE GOMSTYN

Following a summit attended by more than 300 college-basketball coaches from across the country, the National Association of Basketball Coaches announced on Wednesday a new plan aimed at reversing the image of immoral or illegal behavior in the sport.

In recent months, several Division I college-basketball programs, including those at Iowa State University and Baylor University, have been rocked by high-profile scandals involving academic fraud, illegal payments to players, or improper behavior by coaches.

The plan, which was created during the summit by the coaches in attendance, includes a requirement for all Division I head coaches to devise codes of ethics for themselves and their players and a requirement for all Division I assistant coaches to attend a series of five professional-development workshops focusing on ethics, recruiting rules, and diversity, among other issues.

The coaches' association also announced plans to work with the National Collegiate Athletic Association to develop a "lack of coach control" infraction that could be used to penalize coaches involved in rules violations investigated by the NCAA.

"We took this opportunity today to make our coaching profession a little better," said Kelvin Sampson, president of the coaches' association and also the head coach at the University of Oklahoma.

All 327 Division I basketball coaches were required to attend the summit unless they received permission to be absent. Failure to attend the summit, coaches were warned, could have led to their forfeiture of ticket privileges for the 2004 Final Four championship series.

Copyright © 2003 The Chronicle of Higher Education