Sanctions against Seminoles only harm academic integrity

“NCAA hammers the Seminoles,” “Florida State hit hard,” and “Bowden suffers” are just a sampling of the headlines across the country after the NCAA finally passed down its “punishment” for Florida State’s numerous violations in a widespread academic fraud case dating back to 2006.

The academic fraud case spread throughout the entire Florida State athletic department. It caused two academic assistants, who gave improper assistance to student-athletes, to resign from the athletic department and 61 athletes representing ten different sports were involved. So, how exactly do the Seminoles get a slap on the wrist with only a few scholarships stripped from the 10 sports? What is really the meaning of the four year probation under the gutless watch of the NCAA?

In the not too distant past, the NCAA would impose the “death penalty”, stripping well over the two or three scholarships that Florida State got stripped of per year from multiple sports while simultaneously banning them from post-season play (i.e. the Alabama football squad in 2002). To quote fictional NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby, one of the great intellectuals of our time: “With all due respect, I didn’t realize you’d gotten experimental surgery to have your balls removed.”

Since Florida State cooperated with the NCAA during the investigation and imposed penalties upon themselves (they suspended 23 football players from the Music City Bowl in 2007), the NCAA was a little more lenient during its sentencing process. In the infractions report, the NCAA says, “Academic fraud is considered by the committee to be among the most egregious of NCAA infractions.” So, Florida State commits the equivalent of murder and gets a lesser penalty because they simply cooperated. Should the fact their football team suspended 23 players involved from one, fairly meaningless bowl game be enough to avoid harsher penalties?

It’s not entirely comparable to the violations levied against the Ohio State basketball program earlier in the decade because of the severity and wide range of the Florida State violations, but it’s similar in terms of self-sanctioned penalties. During Jim O’Brien’s reign as head coach, a booster for the Ohio State basketball program gave improper gifts to former player Boban Savovic. The university banned the team from post-season play in 2005 and reduced scholarships. In return for their cooperation, the NCAA gave the Buckeyes a minor penalty of three years probation and, now, essentially all is forgotten. It hardly had an effect on the 2007 Final Four run with über-recruits Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr.

Does integrity exist in college athletics, today? We expect the athletic department and those involved with athletics to uphold the academic integrity of the university. What happens when they don’t? A reasonable person would expect the NCAA to step in and fix this conundrum. Yet when it comes to the biggest money making athletic departments in the country, it seems they don’t.

Buckeye Joel Dalgarno Named a Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award Candidate

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Joel Dalgarno, a senior attackman for the Ohio State men’s lacrosse team, has been named one of 30 candidates for the 2009 Lowe’s Senior Class Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: Classroom, Character, Community and Competition.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages those leaders to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact on their circle of influence.

The list of 30 student-athletes will be narrowed down to 10 finalists midway through the regular season and those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot. The ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select the candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the “Four C’s” of Classroom, Character, Community and Competition. The award winner will be announced and presented with his trophy at the 2009 NCAA® Men’s Lacrosse Championship in Foxborough, Mass.

Dalgarno, a native of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, is a co-captain for the Buckeyes this year. He leads the Buckeyes with seven assists and 17 points and is tied for the team lead with 10 goals this year. He recently took over second place in the Buckeye record books with 183 points, ranking third in goals (tied) and assists all-time. A 2008 honorable mention All-American, Dalgarno is a two-time first-team All-Great Western Lacrosse League selection and was the 2006 league rookie of the year. A family resource management major, Dalgarno is expected to earn his degree this spring. He is a two-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete and an Academic All-Big Ten choice. He participates in many of the team’s community service efforts, including working at the Ronald McDonald House and tutoring schoolchildren.

For more information, visit www.seniorclassaward.com.

Courtesy www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com

BASE: Power Surge Leads to 21-14 Win

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Every starter scored a run and nearly every starter hit a home run as Ohio State defeated Connecticut, 21-14, Saturday at Harmon Field to improve to 7-0 on the season. The 7-0 record ties for the third-best start ever for an Ohio State team with only two teams – the 1917 team opened 10-0 and the 1991 won its first eight games – opening the season with a better record.

The Buckeyes pounded 21 hits against five UConn pitchers. Seven of those hits were home runs, including five in the third inning that enable the Buckeyes to come back from a 4-2 deficit and take a 10-4 lead. The seven home runs increased the team’s total to 15 in 2009 after hitting only 19 the entire 2008 season.

In that third inning and with one out, Justin Miller hit a solo shot, Dan Burkhart walked and Cory Rupert homered. Then with two out, Michael Arp singled, Matt Streng homered over the scoreboard in left field, Zach Hurley singled, Cory Kovanda homered and then Michael Stephens homered. Single inning home run records are not tracked in the Ohio State media guide, so it is unsure whether a record was set.

Hurley added a two-run shot in the fourth inning and Streng, a sophomore from Upper Arlington in the starting lineup for only the second time, hit another towering blast in the seventh inning that made the score 21-13. Streng’s home runs were not only the first two of his career, but they came from both sides of the plate. No idea when – if ever – that’s been accomplished by a Buckeye.

Ohio State added five runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to maintain a goal-line-stand advantage over a Huskie team, now 3-3 on the year, that would not quit. Despite trailing by scores of 10-4 and 15-6, the Huskies kept swinging the bats against an array of Ohio State pitchers – freshman Ross Oltorik made his first collegiate start and he was followed by Theron Minium, Jared Strayer and Drew Rucinski – and closed the gap to 15-12 through six innings. The Huskies totaled 18 hits for the game with five players having two or more.

Minium, who entered the game in the bottom of the third with Ohio State trailing 4-2, picked up the win. He and Strayer joined Oltorik in seeing their first action of the 2009 season. Minium was pitching for the first time since the 2007 season as he red-shirted last year.

Jake Hale came in and finished his fifth game of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth inning. UConn starter Greg Nappo gave up eight runs off eight hits in 2.2 innings and dropped to 1-1 with the loss.

Courtesy Jerry Emig Ohio State Athletics

Jantel Lavender Repeats as Big Ten Player of the Year

PARK RIDGE, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference office announced on Monday the 2009 All-Big Ten women’s basketball teams and individual award winners. Highlighting the list, Ohio State sophomore Jantel Lavender was named Big Ten Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Buckeye head coach Jim Foster was named Coach of the Year, OSU point guard Samantha Prahalis was named Freshman of the Year, Buckeye junior Shavelle Little was named Defensive Player of the Year and Purdue freshman Brittany Rayburn was named Sixth Player of the Year.

Lavender earns Big Ten Player of the Year distinction by the conference coaches and media this year, after earning selection by the coaches last season. She becomes the sixth player in Big Ten women’s basketball history to earn the award in back-to-back seasons, joining former Buckeyes Tracey Hall (1986-87) and Jessica Davenport (2005-06-07). The sophomore became just the second player in conference history to complete the statistical triple crown, leading the conference in points (20.0) and rebounds (9.9) per game, as well as shooting percentage (.549) during Big Ten play. She eclipsed the 1,000-career point milestone this season, needing just 53 games to reach the marker, making her the second-fastest Buckeye in history to reach the plateau. Also this season, Lavender was named Big Ten Player of the Week five times, tying her for the conference’s single-season record. Her nine career selections tie her for third on the conference’s all-time list. Lavender also earned unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten first team by the coaches and media.

Lavender’s mentor, Foster was tabbed as the conference Coach of the Year by his peers and by a 22-member media panel. The selection is his fourth in the last five years. The 31-year coaching veteran led Ohio State to its fifth consecutive Big Ten title, a feat previously accomplished only by the 1983-87 Buckeye squads. Under his guidance, Ohio State finished the regular season with a 24-5 overall mark and ranked as high as 12th nationally. The Buckeyes enter the 2009 Big Ten Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the fifth consecutive year, marking an unparalleled run atop the bracket.

A freshman under Foster’s tutelage, Prahalis was named Freshman of the Year by the coaches and media. She becomes the second consecutive Buckeye (Lavender) to earn the honor and is the eighth player in program history to receive the nod. The Commack, N.Y., native led the Big Ten in assists throughout the season and finished the regular season with a 5.76 assists-per-game average to rank 15th among all NCAA Division I players. Prahalis led all Big Ten freshmen in scoring, averaging 10.0 points per game, and finished sixth among her classmates with 3.0 boards per contest. She was also named to the All-Big Ten second team by the media and earned honorable mention selection by the coaches.

A junior for the Buckeyes, Little is the second player in conference history to be named Defensive Player of the Year in consecutive seasons. Her award marks the Buckeyes’ third in the 10-year history of the honor. Little averaged 2.57 steals per game during the 2008-09 campaign and anchored a Buckeye defense that gave up less than 55 points per Big Ten game. On offense, the Ann Arbor, Mich., native contributed 3.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest.

Another Buckeye recognized was senior Star Allen who was named to the third team by both the coaches and the media. Allen led the Big Ten in field goal percentage at .545 percent, was ninth in rebounding (7.5) and 19th in scoring at 10.9 per game. She scored a career-high 25 points in her final home game Sunday and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. She also had four assists and three blocks. Allen, who was a second-team selection in 2006-07, went over 800 points for her career Sunday. In her last five games, Allen has scored 91 points (18.2 ppg) and is shooting 37-of-62 (.597 percent) from the field.

Courtesy Adam Widman Ohio State Athletics and The Big 10 Conference

Tressel To Visit Troops

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State’s Jim Tressel is one of six college football coaches who will visit U.S. service personnel in the Middle East as part of an Armed Forces Entertainment tour in May.

The delegation is planning to make stops throughout the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The tour is organized through the Department of Defense. The coaches will meet for orientation in late May and should be overseas eight days.

Others participating this year include Mack Brown (Texas), Houston Nutt (Ole Miss), Rick Neuheisel (UCLA), Troy Calhoun (Air Force) and Tommy Tuberville, who was a part of the inaugural Coaches’ Tour last year.

For more information, go to www.coachestour2009.com.

Courtesy Shelley Poe Ohio State Athletics