Syracuse Asks Fund-Raiser to Quit Post

As a result of Syracuse’s investigation into improprieties in its basketball program, the president of the school’s primary basketball fund-raising organization has been asked to resign, The New York Times reported today.

The newspaper said that in a letter dated Friday, the university had informed Joseph Gianuzzi, head of the Hardwood Club, that he was being removed from any association with the school’s athletic programs. That includes removal as president and director of the club.

“We felt it was in the best interest of the university to disassociate Mr. Gianuzzi from the program based on information we have obtained through our ongoing investigation of the basketball program,” Robert Hill, the university’s vice president of public relations, was quoted as saying.

The report said that, according to Hill, the action also disassociated Gianuzzi from any of the three other primary athletic booster organizations.

Syracuse’s internal investigation is expected to be finished by the end of the spring semester in late April, Syracuse spokesman Robert Hill said. A team of Syracuse lawyers has been interviewing past and present players and athletic boosters since the probe was announced last month.

When the review is completed, Syracuse will turn its findings over to the NCAA, Hill said. It is not known whether the NCAA has started its own investigation of Syracuse’s basketball program. The association does not acknowledge when such probes are under way.

The school began its probe after the Syracuse Post-Standard published a series of articles in December alleging that Syracuse might have broken several NCAA rules, such as allowing players to receive merchandise, cut-rate use of cars and even cash gifts from boosters.