Maryland Reportedly Receives Severe Sanctions

The University of Maryland has received official word from the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. regarding sanctions against its men’s basketball program, and a campus source said that the penalties are more severe than anticipated.

“We got blown away,” the source said.

The source said that the Terrapins, who were expecting to be banned from this year’s NCAA tournament and National Invitation Tournament, also will not be allowed to play in the 1990-91 postseason and will not be allowed to play on television next season.

Maryland officials have called a news conference for today at which university president William E. Kirwan will discuss the penalties imposed by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

Other sanctions are likely to include a return of revenue from the 1988 NCAA tournament (an estimated $479,000 for reaching the second round), a reduction of scholarships and a limitation on off-campus recruiting. The penalties are expected to hurt the program and Coach Gary Williams, whose team finished the regular season 18-12 after Saturday’s 89-74 victory over Virginia.

Neither Williams nor athletic director Lew Perkins could be reached for comment.

David Berst, assistant executive director for enforcement of the NCAA, said that he deferred all comment regarding an announcement to university officials but will speak about the penalties once they were announced.

According to sources, there are a number of reasons the program was hit hard.

The main reason, said a source, was that the NCAA believed the university showed a lack of institutional control from the time it hired former coach Bob Wade without the benefit of a proper search, through the 18 violations committed during Wade’s three seasons.

Among the more serious violations against Wade were providing a leased car, cash payments of $272 and rides for former Terrapin guard Rudy Archer before, during and after his one-season stay; giving free and deeply discounted clothing to Alonzo Mourning and Brian Williams while they were being recruited; providing false and misleading information to NCAA investigations; and trying to get his assistant coaches to provide false and misleading information.

It is not clear what sanctions will be placed on Wade or former assistant coach Jeff Adkins, but sources familiar with the Maryland case said last week that both expected to be sanctioned with similar penalties if they are hired by another Division I school. In Wade’s case, they might be even more serious, a source said.

Wade could not be reached for comment.

A lack of institutional control also was cited in the selling of complimentary tickets to the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Tony Massenburg and Rodney Walker, the only current players among the five involved in the sale, served two-game suspensions at the beginning of this season for that transgression.

Considering the severity of the penalty, it is likely the NCAA took into consideration the infraction committed by Williams when he watched two workouts before the Oct. 15 starting date. “It’s a minor infraction normally, but it becomes major problem for the infractions committee during an ongoing investigation,” said someone familiar with NCAA procedures.

When Maryland officials, as well as Williams, met with the NCAA’s committee on infractions Feb. 2 in San Diego, the university offered to sanction itself out of this year’s postseason, return NCAA revenue from 1988 and reduce next year’s scholarship allotment of 15 by two.

But, according to sources, the NCAA was put off by the amount of finger-pointing going on between university officials and former staff members, including Wade. There also was a great deal of friction between the athletic department and the administration over proposals made to Kirwan.

The penalties will hurt the program financially, since Maryland would have to relinquish its share of the lucrative ACC television package. The question of scholarships becomes almost moot--for the record, Maryland will have three available--because it seems doubtful that Williams will be able to recruit effectively with the program burdened by sanctions.

The ACC has a right to keep Maryland out of its postseason tournament, but it seems doubtful it would do so this season because North Carolina State already is on probation and is scheduled to play in next week’s tournament, which is scheduled to begin Friday at the Charlotte (N.C.) Coliseum.