Tulane Athletic Director Resigns, Citing the Toll From Turmoil, Scandal

Hindman Wall, athletic director at Tulane since 1976, resigned Friday, saying years of turmoil plus a current scandal involving the university’s basketball team had “taken a toll.”

Wall, 49, whose resignation is effective June 30, said he was not forced to quit. “Absolutely, I had no pressure,” he said. “I was not asked to resign.”

Basketball Coach Ned Fowler and two assistants resigned last week, and Tulane President Eamon Kelly has recommended dropping men’s basketball.

Kelly accepted Wall’s resignation and said a search for a successor would begin immediately.

He also said the school’s ongoing investigation into possible NCAA infractions “has not yielded any evidence that Mr. Wall was involved in those matters.”

Orleans Parish District Atty. Harry Connick announced last month that he had broken a point-shaving scheme involving five Tulane basketball players. Three players and five other men have been indicted in the gambling case.

Mark Olensky, 21, of Fair Lawn, N.J., entered an innocent plea Friday to 10 counts of sports bribery and two counts of conspiracy in an appearance before Judge Alvin Oser of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

Connick said his investigation also turned up evidence of NCAA violations--a cash bonus allegedly given one recruit and cash payoffs allegedly made to at least one player.

Wall said his resignation is linked to the scandals only by time. “The combination of the last several years has just taken a toll on me,” Wall said. “It’s been coming on for a while. It’s just one of those things. I’m just tired.”

Wall also said he had no plans for the future: “I’m looking for a job.”

For at least the last three years, Tulane’s athletic program has had problems, including the discovery of a $1 million deficit in the athletic department; allegations that former football coach Wally English sent an assistant to spy on a Mississippi State practice, and a suit against the school by quarterback Jon English, the coach’s son.

The lawsuit challenged the NCAA’s transfer rule and permitted the quarterback to play in seven games under a series of injunctions.

Wall fired Wally English after last season and hired Mack Brown. But the rift between the former coach and the athletic director had divided Tulane supporters into pro-Wall and pro-English groups, as well as a group that wanted both fired.