NCAA Tries to Get Handle on Truth

The death penalty, which prohibits a team from competing for at least one season, has been imposed only once -- against the Southern Methodist football program in the late 1980s. After that landmark event, universities started becoming more cooperative in NCAA investigations, said David Swank, chairman of the infractions committee from 1991 to 1999.

"There was great stonewalling, but that changed by the early 1990s," Swank said. "And since that time certainly there has been excellent cooperation with the schools. Even though Auburn may be contesting every issue, that does not mean they are not cooperating fully. The school doesn't have to roll over and play dead just because it is charged with a violation. They can say, 'We can give you all the witnesses, but we still don't think there is a violation.' "

Changes also in the NCAA investigation procedures during the past 15 years have created a more amicable process. At one time, investigators simply took notes during interviews and the situation at times became a "he said, she said" when all parties reconvened. What's more, investigators would arrive on campus to begin an investigation without notifying the university president.

Jerry Tarkanian, 73, has dueled with the NCAA for four decades. All three schools at which he coached -- Long Beach State, Nevada-Las Vegas and Fresno State -- were punished by the NCAA for violations that occurred during his tenure. His controversial, yet successful career included a $2.5 million settlement he received from the NCAA in 1998. Tarkanian had alleged that the NCAA targeted his programs and manufactured evidence. Last year, Fresno State self-imposed a postseason ban and was placed on four years' probation because of academic fraud and other violations that occurred during Tarkanian's seven-year stay at his alma mater.

"They were the worst organization that I ever encountered in the 1970s," Tarkanian said. "Now they give you a pretty good form of due process. They tape your interviews, they let you read your interviews, and you can have someone present while they interview. In 1977, you could have none of that. It would be their recollection of what was said. And then we'd go to the hearing, and they would be having dinner with the committee the night before the meeting."

Establishing a clear distinction between the committee members and the enforcement staff is crucial to the NCAA avoiding perceptions of conflicts of interest. The NCAA states that no NCAA staff member is on the committee, though two employees service it, one as a liaison, the other as an administrative assistant.

But some, such as Dennis Goldasich, an attorney representing an Amateur Athletic Union coach named in Auburn's case, say the groups remain too close, because in order for an allegation to be refuted, the committee "would have to look their co-employees in the eye and say we don't believe you," he said.

The Showdown

If history is any indication, however, Auburn entered its hearing the clear underdog.

The common course of action for a school accused of rules violations is to hire a law firm -- Kansas-based law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King has established a national reputation for handling such cases -- and then impose penalties on itself. Attorneys help universities conduct internal investigations, often joint endeavors with an NCAA probe. When a major violation is uncovered, a university often self-imposes sanctions to show the NCAA it takes responsibility and to try to offset further penalty.

Auburn hired Sam Franklin and William King of Birmingham-based Lightfoot, Franklin & White, which has experience advising schools on compliance issues and assisting investigations, according to its Web site. But the school has not self-imposed any significant sanctions because it believes it committed only secondary violations.

In fact, Auburn did not acknowledge one major violation alleged by NCAA investigators, an unusual tactic according to those familiar with NCAA investigations. Approximately 80 percent of all allegations made by the enforcement staff are eventually affirmed by the committee, Swank said. Usually when the investigation reaches the hearing, former investigator Chuck Smrt said, the university acknowledges the majority of the allegations as true, an approach that usually results in less severe penalties.

What resulted Friday was a lengthy, though not contentious, meeting in which there was "considerable difference" regarding the facts, Richardson said. Case in point: The committee spent more than two hours on "paragraph 2F" in the NCAA's letter of official inquiry, which dealt with assistant Shannon Weaver allegedly offering a car to Moore's mother, an allegation Weaver and Auburn deny.

Those involved in the investigation say a critical point involves Mark Komara, a Huntsville, Ala.-based AAU coach accused of representing Auburn's athletic interests -- much like a booster -- in providing extra benefits to players, an allegation he has denied through his attorney. Penalties usually are harsh when a violation involves a representative of the university's athletic interests because it is viewed as giving the program a competitive advantage. Smrt said it's not unprecedented for an AAU coach to be deemed a representative but declined to reference a case.

But Auburn has its own precedents to cite. During Fresno State's 2003 case, NCAA investigator Dan Matheson alleged street agent Nate Cebrun -- who admitted funneling hundreds of dollars from a Las Vegas-based sports agency to a player -- was a representative of the university's interests because of his longstanding relationship with Tarkanian. Fresno State refuted the claim and won, thus avoiding a more severe penalty.

Auburn must hope for a similar decision, but having stated its case, it can now do nothing but wait. Though it's likely not a situation he wishes to be in again, Richardson commended the process.

"I was really surprised," he said. "The NCAA staff complimented William King and said they worked well together -- even though they disagreed on about everything."