University of Minnesota Hoops Academic Cheating Scandal
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Clem Haskins was hired as the Gopher basketball coach in 1986, expected to clean up and rebuild the Gopher program which had been torn apart by the Madison sexual assault allegations (of which the players were later acquitted) during the final year of coach Jim Dutcher. Though wins didn't come easily in the first couple years of Haskins regime, by the 1988-89 season he had the Gophers in the NCAA tournament as a #11 seed, and directed a Cinderella run into the Sweet 16. In the 1989-90 season Haskins led the Gophers to the Elite Eight, and the team came within a basket of reaching their first ever Final Four. In only three years, Haskins had once again made Gopher basketball a hot ticket in town. However as it turns out, the 1990 Elite Eight appearance would be the last time under Haskins the Gophers would "officially" appear in the NCAA tournament.
On March 10, 1999, the day before the #7 seed Gophers were to open the NCAA tournament against #10 Gonzaga, the St. Paul Pioneer Press ran a story detailing allegations of massive academic fraud in the men's basketball program. Former basketball office manager Jan Gangelhoff had gone to the newspaper claiming she had written over 400 papers for at least 20 Gopher men's basketball players over a period of several years, ending in 1998. The next day when the Gophers played Gonzaga, the University suspended players Antoine Broxie, Kevin Clark, Jason Stanford, and Miles Tarver since they allegedely had papers written for them by Ganglehoff in previous seasons. With their roster depleted, the Gophers lost to Gonzaga, the season came to an end, and an internal investigation at the University began.
By June of 1999 and in the midst of their investigation, the university had negotiated a buyout of the remainder of Haskins contract, worth $1.5 million dollars over three years. In the summer of 2000, Haskins came forward and admitted that he had paid Gangelhoff $3,000 for her services; this revelation came to light after Haskins turned his financial records over to the NCAA. In addition, more details were emerging in which Haskins was also accused of mail fraud in an incident regarding a recruits transcript, giving players cash, dismissing sexual harassment concerns against his players, as well as his staff trying to persuade professors to give his players inflated grades they had not earned. After the details of Haskins' ever-growing involvement became more clear, the University initiated legal action to recover the buyout money. A judge ultimately ruled that Haskins must return just over half of the original $1.5 million buyout.
During this time an NCAA investigation was also underway. They agreed with the University that massive fraud took place under Haskins watch, and stripped the Gophers of all awards and titles dating back to the 1993-94 season citing "Lack of institutional control". The banners and records stripped included:
- 1993-94: NCAA Tounrament 2nd round
- 1994-95: NCAA Tournament 1st round
- 1995-96: NIT 2nd round
- 1996-97: NCAA Final Four
- 1996-97: Big Ten MVP Bobby Jackson
- 1996-97: Big Ten Defensive POY: Bobby Jackson
- 1997-98: NIT Champions
- 1998-99: NCAA Tournament 1st round
- All wins and personal statistics between 1993-94 and 1998-99
In addition, the basketball program was hit with massive sanctions, including a loss of five scholarships over the following three seasons, recruiting limitations, and department-wide probation lasting four years. There was no post-season ban instituted by the NCAA, however then-University president Mark Yudof ordered a self-imposed post season ban for the 1999-2000 season.
Besdies the resignation of Coach Haskins, Athetlic Director Mark Dienhart, Vice president for Athletics, Student Development McKinley Boston, Associate athletics director Jeff Schemmel and academic counselor Alonzo Newby also resigned. The University also agreed to return 90% (approximately $350,000) of the profits earned during their appearances in the NCAA tournament, including the 1997 Final Four run.
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