Schools React To Inquiry Into Student-Athlete Arrests

March 3, 2011 /

The Sporting News

A Sports Illustrated and CBS News study of college football players with criminal pasts prompted strong reactions Wednesday from schools portrayed in a poor light by the investigative piece.

Iowa athletic director Gary Barta confirmed the portion of the report that 18 Hawkeyes on last season’s roster had been charged with crimes since 2007. In a statement, he categorized the offenses – 15 of which were alcohol-related, two for drug possession, and one for misdemeanor assault, for which the player plead guilty to disorderly conduct.

Barta attributed the issues to a campus-wide problem with underage drinking.

Similar reaction came from Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long. The Hogs, also cited for 18 arrests, had seven traffic violations, three driving under the influence of alcohol charges, five alcohol possession charges, two for marijuana possession and one for shoplifting.

“It is worth noting that none of these violations involved any acts of violence,” Long said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the article place our students in a misleading context, one which failed to distinguish the nature and severity of violations from those featured in the story.”

The six-month study reviewed parts of the criminal histories of every player from the preseason Top 25 Sports Illustrated released last spring. Reporters found that seven percent of the athletes studied had been charge with a crime. Forty percent of those included serious offenses of assault and battery, domestic violence, robbery or sex offenses.

Of the 25 teams, 11 had five or fewer athletes charged. TCU was the lone school with none. Pittsburgh led the list with 22 athletes arrested before or during college, including four of them charged with violent crimes over a three-month stretch last summer.

“This is atypical of both our football program and this athletic department,” athletic director Steve Pederson told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

Pederson also said athletic directors and conference commissioners should discuss the implementation of criminal background checks during recruiting. The SI/CBS report said that of the 25 schools studied, only TCU and Oklahoma conduct criminal checks on incoming players.

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2011-03-03/schools-react-to-inquiry-into-student-athlete-arrests#ixzz1FYNDQQRu


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