Friday, April 9, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 13
U ophers'
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The words sounded
almost desperate when trouble came, a proud
man clinging to his carefully built reputation.
"Don't you know me, what I stand for as a
man, as a person?" Clem Haskins said on the
night he was confronted with accusations of aca-
mic fraud in his basketball program at
innesota.
9 Last month's claims by a former tutor, and
accusations since then that Haskins gave hun-
dreds of dollars to a former player, have tarnished
the character and threatened the career of an old-
school coach who only two years ago was held
u as a model for winning the "right way" in the
murky world of big-time college basketball.
* The investigation of Haskins' program is
expected to take several months, but speculation
is rampant that it could end with the university
*king a new coach.
Haskins declined to return several telephone
calls in preparation for this story.
"I hope somewhere in this whole thing the
people of Minnesota remember he did a lot of
positive things," said Butch Moening, who
coached former Gophers star Sam Jacobson at
Park High School and now is athletic director
there.
Haskins came to Minnesota after another
CAA probe in 1986. While the program he left
hind at Western Kentucky became the subject
of another investigation in 1988, Haskins rebuilt
the crippled Golden Gophers on the strength of
his no-nonsense personality and his ability to
coax the most out of his players.
But last month's accusations suggest plenty of
gray area in the world of right and wrong that
Haskins espoused.
"I'd be very surprised if this is true in its entire-
ty," said Western Kentucky sports information
director Paul Just, who has known Haskins since
coach starred as a player at the school. "But
u never know what's in between. That's the
catch on these things."
There never seemed to be anything in between
with Haskins throughout his 13 seasons with the
Gophers. .
He inherited a program that had been hit with
NCAA restrictions following an investigation of
Jim Dutcher's tenure. The Gophers lost 21 con-
laskins' job in turmoil
secutive Big Ten games early in Haskins' career,
but the team regrouped. Haskins led Minnesota
to the Final 16 in his third season and a regional
final in his fourth year, where a 93-91 loss to
Georgia Tech kept the Gophers from their first
trip to the Final Four in 1990.
The Gophers sputtered for the next several
years, but Haskins finally took them to the Final
Four in 1997, where the best season in school
history (31-4) ended two wins short of a champi-
onship.
But it is that era, the time between Haskins'
biggest successes on the national scene, that has
come into question.
At Haskins' request, the university allowed the
academic counseling unit for the men's basketball
team to be separated from the counseling units for
the school's other teams and put under control of
the athletic department. It was in this insulated
environment that former tutor Jan Gangelhoff
says she did research 'papers, take-home exams
and other course work for at least 20 players.
"In the two years I was there, I never did a
thing," former guard Russ Archambault, a little-
used freshman on the Final Four team, told the
Saint Paul Pioneer Press when it first reported
the accusations.
Haskins has denied Gangelhoff's claims. He
also denies later ones by Archambault, who said
Haskins gave him cash -$200 to $300 at a time.
Haskins kicked Archambault off the team during
the second half of the 1997-98 season for violat-
ing unspecified team rules.
This is the second time in his coaching career
that Haskins has been accused of paying players.
In 1988, two years after Haskins moved to
Minnesota, eight former Western Kentucky play-
ers told the Courier-Journal of Louisville that
cash, clothes, and other improper benefits were
given to members of the team through boosters
and coaches between 1981 and 1986.
Haskins, who coached at his alma mater from
1980-86, denied those accusations. In 1989, the
NCAA determined there was no need for an
investigation of Western Kentucky's program,
citing insufficient reliable evidence.
University president Thomas Meredith also
pointed out that no one named in the claims -
including Haskins - remained at the school.
"I am firmly convinced that our current bas-
ketball program is operating within the guide-
lines set by the NCAA;' Meredith said in his
1989 report to the NCAA.
When it came to school work, Haskins admits
he had a shaky foundation.
He grew up as the son of a poor farmer in rural
Kentucky and didn't start school until 8. He first
attended a one-room school for blacks until the
third grade, and he often missed large chunks of
school to work on the farm.
But because of his enormous basketball abili-
ty and his hard work in the classroom, Haskins
overcame that slow start. He has been a strong
advocate for academics during his coaching
career and believes in the importance of his play-
ers earning their degrees.
At Western Kentucky, Haskins set up the same
type of academic counseling structure he later
brought to Minnesota. Former Western Kentucky
athletic director John Oldham, who coached
Haskins in college and gave him his first coach-
ing job, lauds Haskins for that move.
"I thought I did a good job by ... staying on top
of (players) to go to class," Oldham said. "But
coach Haskins was the one to put the money
where his mouth was. He was the first to hire an
academic advisor."
Oldham said Haskins would do whatever it
took to see his players succeed in school.
"I think he would do anything he could to help
a kid academically, because he wanted his kids to
graduate,' Oldham said. "I don't think he would
cheat, but I think he would do everything but
cheat"
But not many Minnesota players have been
graduating. NCAA records showed the school's
male basketball players have the worst record of
earning diplomas in the Big Ten - about one of
every four who entered as freshmen from 1983 to
1991 graduated, compared to a conference aver-
age of about one in two.
In 1997, the university returned oversight of
basketball player counseling to an academic ser-
vices unit instead of the athletic department.
McKinley Boston, the school's vice president of
student development and athletics, cited poor
communication as the major reason.
Elayne Donahue, who often clashed with
AP PHOTO
Minnesota basketball coach Clem Haskins has dealt with numerous problems this past season
Including a scandal involving several of his top players.
Haskins before she retired recently as director of
academic counseling, gave another reason: She
said the university was afraid the arrangement,
would jeopardize its NCAA accreditation.
Haskins' words from his 1997 autobiography
"Breaking Barriers" suggest the tug between his
values and the pressure to succeed.
"It's not how many games or championships
I've won, it's the lives that I've touched along the
way,' Haskins wrote. "Along the way, of course,
you need to win enough games in order to earn
the respect of people.
"Respect. If there's one thing that I've always
strived for in my life it's that I want to earn peo-
ple's respect."
After the story broke last month, Haskins held
fast to the moral high ground, even though the
contrast between his words and the allegations
against him leaves a cloudy picture of what mat-
ters most to him.
"We don't put winning and losing ahead of
what's right," Haskins said. "Some people sell
their souls to win. I don't do that. Never have,
never will."
Minnesota athletes now rest at the
bottom of Big Ten graduation rates
Basketball fraud linked to small number of basketball diplomas
STAYING IN THE SUN ER? WRITE FOR THE DAILY.
CALL s-DAILr.
Olympic panei OUKs gag order
ST. PAUL (AP) - Minnesota basketball
tems' scholarship athletes have the worst
Word of earning diplomas in the Big 10
Conference, an analysis shows.
One in four freshmen recruited from
1983 to 1991 eventually graduated from the
university, the Saint Paul Pioneer Press
reported today.
The average for Big Ten basketball pro-
grams over the same period was about one
in two, the newspaper reported in an exam-
ination of NCAA data.
In a separate analysis, the Pioneer Press
und that only two of 21 students linked to
alleged academic fraud in the basketball
program have received degrees.
The university has hired two law firms to
investigate claims by Jan Gangelhoff, a for-
mer office worker and tutor, that she did
about 400 pieces of course work for players
from 1993 to 1998.
Gangelhoff was scheduled to go over
some of that work today with investigators.
The Pioneer Press also reported that new
mputer files it received from her bore the
me of Charles Thomas, a member of the
1997 Final Four team; his name had not
been connected to the allegations previous-
ly. Thomas declined comment when
reached by the newspaper.
Gangelhoff's allegations in March result-
ed in the suspension of four members of
this season's basketball team, including two
starters, right before the Golden Gophers'
first-round NCAA game, a loss to Gonzaga.
The Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported
earlier that the grade-point average of
Minnesota's men's basketball teams has
trailed the average of other men's teams at
the university over the past 15 years.
The newspaper also reported the basket-
ball team's average six-year graduation rate
of about 25 percent was well below the
Division I basketball average of about 44
percent.
The Pioneer Press' report today explored
graduation rates in more detail.
Under coach Clem Haskins, who was
hired in 1986, the Gophers' graduation rate
declined slightly in comparison to three
previous years.
The grad rate for freshmen entering from
1986 to.1991 was 23 percent.
Penn State and Northwestern graduated
80 percent or more of their freshmen bas-
ketball players during the same period. The
average at other Big Ten schools ranged
from 31 percent to 74 percent.
WCCO-TV examined graduation rates
for freshmen basketball players who
entered Minnesota from 1988 to 1991, and
reported Wednesday night that they gradu-
ated at a rate of 27 percent compared with
41 percent of all Division I men's basketball
players.
"This is disturbing," university President
Mark Yudof told the Pioneer Press. "We are
going to have to look at this intensively."
Yudof said the university has raised
admission standards that might affect the
graduation rate in the future, but results
wouldn't be expected to show up until after
the year 2000, he said.
The Pioneer Press examined nine years of
data collected by the NCAA.
Athletes who transferred to other schools
were counted as not graduating from their
original university.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -
The Salt Lake Organizing
Committee adopted a gag order
on yesterday prohibiting board
members from releasing any
confidential information - a
rule punishable by expulsion.
The vote came two months
after SLOC president Mitt
Romney, taking the reins as
CEO of the organizing commit-
tee, promised a new era of open-
ness in the Olympic movement.
The gag order was adopted
after some members com-
plained they were learning more
from press accounts than
Olympic managers. But
Romney said press leaks often
occur when SLOC letters and
faxes are sent to board mem-
bers. He urged them to show
restraint, especially with budget
material.
The confidentiality order was
a much-discussed impromptu
item during a meeting at the
Utah Capitol of SLOC's 20-
member management commit-
tee.
The committee also approved
Romney's hiring of Fraser
Bullock as executive vice presi-
dent and chief operating officer.
Bullock will begin work May 1.
He replaces Dave Johnson, who
was forced out in January amid
revelations that Salt Lake boost-
ers had used gifts, cash pay-
ments and other favors to win
the 2002 Winter Games.
"I'm just going to focus like a
laser" on SLOC finances and
organizing, said Bullock, 44,
managing director of Alpine
Consolidated, a Utah firm that
specializes in business consoli-
dations. He worked with
Romney at Boston-based Bain
& Co, and the friends have
known each other for 18 years.
The board's new confidential-
ity order will not apply to its
several ex-officio members who
can't be replaced under any cir-
cumstance. They include Gov.
Mike Leavitt and Salt Lake City
Mayor Deedee Corradini or
their designees.
"Clearly, we're not going to
ask the governor to resign" for
divulging information, said
board member James Swartz,
who sponsored the gag order.
It passed by a vote of.15-0
with Romney abstaining.
"The secrets of the company
are the assets of a company,"
said Barry Sanders, SLOC's
outside attorney. "To tell a
secret is to squander an asset."
The order was refined several
times before the voting: The
final version wasn't limited to
board members, so it apparently
also applies to SLOC employ-
ees. It requires those who obtain
"any communication written or
verbal" that is marked confiden-
tial to be kept so.
The rule is punishable by
expulsion, but it is not clear how
SLOC will determine or prove a
violation has occurred.
Duke assistant takes crack at Missouri job
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - The job
of revitalizing Missouri goes to a man
exactly half Norm Stewart's age.
The school is hoping Duke assistant
in Snyder, a boyish 32-year-old hired
to a five-year contract on Wednesday,
will relate to players his predecessor
might have driven away in the past.
Unlike Stewart, who resigned under
pressure six days earlier after 32 sea-
sons - saying his style was not to be a
social worker - Snyder believes the
coach-player relationship doesn't have
to be adversarial.
He said the same thing to his players
in an informal first chat a few minutes
sore a campus news conference.
"I told them I'll treat them with
respect and I know they'll treat me with
respect," Snyder said. "I hope I can be
many things to them. Yes, I hope I'm
their friend. Being their friend doesn't
preclude you from disciplining them."
Players liked what they heard, and
gave their new leader a standing ova-
tion, along with the rest of the fans in
endance at the news conference.
W reshman point guard Keyon
Dooling, who clashed with Stewart last,
season and considered transferring, did-
n't attend Stewart's farewell news con-
ference. He was all smiles Wednesday.
"You could feel the vibes,' Dooling
tad. "There were a number of good
He's also proved himself as the top
assistant and recruiting coordinator the
last four years under Mike Krzyzewski
at one of the nation's perennial powers.
Duke lost in the NCAA championship
game this season.
Snyder heeded advice from
Krzyzewski, whom he called his men-
tor, and sought a school "worthy of my
passion."
He also had been considered by
Vanderbilt, San Diego State and Notre
Dame, but knew he'd made the right
choice when he surveyed the adoring
crowd.
"Seeing this here today, I'm con-
vinced it's my turn to show you I'm
worthy of your passion," he said.
Krzyzewski, who underwent hip
replacement surgery on Sunday, said
during the Final Four he felt Snyder was
ready to become a head coach.
"I have had incredible high expecta-
tions for him as a player, then a coach,
and as a friend," Krzyzewski said. "He
has surpassed my expectations in every
way."
Snyder doesn't exactly inherit a team
on the skids. Missouri was 20-9 last
season and lost to New Mexico in the
first round of the NCAA tournament.
But the previous three seasons sig-
naled the end for Stewart, who was a
combined 51-47 in that period. Another
the first day of the late signing period,
which continues through May 15.
Missouri is hoping to close the deal on
three top recruits.
Snyder was respectful of his prede-
cessor, to a point.
"What an unbelievable job he did,"
Snyder said. "I'm very fortunate to have
an opportunity to be his successor, to
hopefully build on that foundation that
his sweat and hard work laid."
On the other hand, Stewart's half-
court offense is headed for the history
pages along with the coach who rolled
up 634 victories at Missouri.
"I want to see us. push the ball,
Snyder said. "I want to run. Can we run,
guys?"
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