It’s Not a Pretty Picture at Tempe : A String of Arrests Has Arizona State Raising Questions About Athletics

Things are going swimmingly at Arizona State, where not one player or assistant coach has been arrested, arraigned, fingerprinted, jailed, sentenced, released on his own recognizance or subpoenaed for what, two weeks now. Local bail bondsmen aren’t pleased, but inside the walls of the Sun Devil athletic department building there is a frail, welcomed calm.

These are nervous people. In the last 16 months, Arizona State has been inundated by criminal charges that threaten to surpass the unofficial anarchy record set in 1989 at Oklahoma. Back then, some Sooners were charged with such things as brandished Uzis, shooting each other, rape and dealing drugs.

Arizona State hasn’t reached those depths--not yet, at least. At last count, 12 Sun Devil athletes and an assistant baseball coach were responsible for 12 counts of misdemeanor theft, four of trespassing, four of felony burglary, four of fraudulent use of telephone credit cards, two of using stolen credit cards, two of criminal damage and one count each of sexual assault, aggravated assault, suspicion of theft, burglary, misdemeanor assault, suspicion of sexual assault, probation violation and failure to pay a court-ordered fine.

And on a lesser scale, players have been fined for driving under the age of 21 with alcohol in their system, fined for possessing alcohol as minors and, in three cases, players have had their driver’s licenses suspended.

No wonder, then, that Arizona State Athletic Director Charles Harris flinches whenever the phone rings late at night. Or that university President Lattie Coor, a founding member of the reform-minded NCAA Presidents Commission, speaks solemnly of “zero tolerance” for future incidents. Or that every Sun Devil head coach--most notably, football’s Bruce Snyder, baseball’s Jim Brock and basketball’s Bill Frieder--is sweating out the inevitable policy changes.

“The tough part of this, as far as making really important changes to ensure that this doesn’t happen again, is that it’s so hard to pin down what went wrong,” said Brock, who has been at Arizona State as a student or coach since 1956. “It’s broken and we need to fix it, but it’s not clear just what broke or what you need to do to fix it.”

Brock himself was summoned to a Phoenix police station Sept. 19 at the request of pitching coach Walter (Dub) Kilgo. Kilgo, 39, had been arrested after a bizarre sequence of events during which he leaped from a hotel balcony, put on another person’s clothes and tried to elude security officers and Phoenix police. Kilgo was found hiding in a hotel room’s bar cabinet.

Kilgo’s coaching career at Arizona State is finished. The name tag outside his fifth-floor office is still there, but the door is shut and will remain that way until Brock finds a new pitching coach. But listen to Kilgo’s explanation for the mad dash, as recounted by a still-amazed Brock: “One of the things he said is that he had panicked. . . . The reason he ran is because he knew how bad of shape we’re in and how much worse it would be if he did anything wrong at all.”

Such is the apparent paranoia at Arizona State. Rather than simply admit that he wasn’t a guest, collect his belongings and leave, Kilgo, who resigned Sunday, faces suspicion of theft, burglary and trespassing.

Kilgo’s arrest was the strangest one yet, but it wasn’t necessarily the most disturbing to Arizona State officials. As heartless as it might sound, a pitching coach can be replaced. But to repair the damage caused by the recent actions of the 12 players will take much longer. “There’s no question we’ve taken our share of hits and we’ll take more,” Harris said.

In the 35 or so years Arizona State has been a university, the Sun Devils’ athletic program has earned a reputation for, among other things, attracting the attention of NCAA investigators.

By the time Harris arrived from the University of Pennsylvania in 1985, Arizona State’s athletic image was in dire need of repair. Seven sports were on NCAA probation. Two others were being investigated.

“And we had absolutely abysmal academic credibility,” Harris said.

Since then, Harris has significantly upgraded the department’s academic commitment to its players. He also helped stop violating NCAA rules.

Two years ago, Arizona State became probation free. It was the first time in 10 seasons that the Sun Devils had not had at least one sport serving NCAA sanctions. Harris believed the athletic program had turned the corner. It had--only to find this latest brick wall.

“I’m not sure how many people who sit in my chair understand that this can happen to you tonight ,” Harris said.

But what happened? And how? After all, this was the place that U.S. News and World Report deemed one of the country’s “up-and-coming” universities. The 1992 Fiske Guide to the Colleges gave Arizona State its highest ranking for quality of life and social life. And USA Today once chirped that you could enjoy “one pleasant surprise after another as you get to know this charming college town in the desert.”

Of course, almost everyone has a theory for the Arizona State crime binge. Presenting the roll-call of opinions:

Harris--”What it pointed out to me is that there is a human element. You can have all the systems in the world, but there’s a part about all of us that people don’t know. On the other hand, I am certain, as we will all come to be, that in each of these circumstances, maybe there was something that we saw, or should have seen, or could have seen.”

Brock--”Someone, if they wanted to, could try to tie all the athletes together and say, ‘Well, there’s a permissiveness.’ Or, ‘There’s a lack of discipline.’ Or, ‘There’s a carelessness in who you recruit.’ Or, ‘There’s a bend for recruiting guys who can help you, even though you know they’re questionable.’ The critics can do all of that kind of scenario. I don’t agree with that, but they certainly could.”

Snyder--”No way can you have 100 kids (on a football team) and not have problems. There’s not a school in the United States today that doesn’t have at least some problems, in my opinion. My point is this: If we can build a strong self-identity, then a player can choose to come here because these are the standards that sound good to him. To make him live up those is much easier than if you don’t have a strong self-identity.

“I’m not real sure that Arizona State--and I don’t mean to be critical of (Snyder’s predecessor) Larry Marmie or anybody else in the past--but I don’t think kids came in here with a clear-cut image of what it was to be here. I think you get here and there was no restraining apparatus. I think if a kid wants to dabble in being a great student, he can do that. But if he wants to dabble in being a bad student, there was no peer pressure or formal structure (to discourage that behavior).”

Frieder--”You pick up the paper every day and there’s something somewhere. You can’t forget that; it’s a fact of life. It’s a society problem. Drugs. Alcohol. Date rape. You can go on and on, but it’s a society problem.

“The types of things that are happening here are happening everywhere. Certainly I don’t think anybody’s had a month like us.”

But then listen to Coor, who said that Arizona State must and will take responsibility for the crimes.

“The pattern is too great, the number of incidents is too great to conclude that this is simply bad luck,” he said.

Frieder’s program has received the most criticism and with good reason. Beginning in June, 1991, seven of his 14 players of a season ago were arrested or fined on criminal charges. The two most celebrated cases involved Jamal Faulkner, the 1991 Pacific 10 Conference freshman of the year, and Dwayne Fontana, a forward who is a top reserve.

Faulkner and Fontana, as well as teammates Lynn Collins and Stevin Smith, were sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to fraudulent use of a telephone credit card. But then Faulkner violated his probation, was sent to jail, was released and then, three days later, was charged with misdemeanor assault. He has since been returned to jail, where he must spend about another week. If all goes well--and nothing has for Faulkner--he is expected to transfer to the University of Cincinnati.

Fontana was arrested Aug. 26 for investigation of sexual assault. The charges have since been dropped, but he remains on indefinite suspension from the Arizona State basketball team. No official decision has been made, but Fontana will probably rejoin the Sun Devils soon enough--this time with a long list of conditions.

Despite the troubles, Frieder said he had no regrets about recruiting any of the players.

“I really don’t, and I’ve been criticized for saying that,” he said.

Faulkner?

“If you’ve got the courage to bet me some money right now, Jamal Faulkner will make it,” Frieder said. “He’ll get his degree somewhere, and he’ll be a better person because of this.”

Fontana?

“I swear to God that if you investigated Dwayne Fontana and were paid thousands of dollars to investigate him, you would have given him a double-A rating,” he said.

And the other players who committed crimes?

“All the others . . . none of those kids had any records or anything,” he said.

Not everyone has been so understanding. Sports Illustrated accused Frieder of “systematically stocking his team with outlaws-in-waiting,” a charge that doesn’t bother the coach one bit.

“I was ripped big-time back at Michigan,” said Frieder, who left Ann Arbor for Tempe in March 1989. “I was 96-10 there my last six years and they’re booing me. I’ve been ripped for everything back there and I’m used to that. That is not a problem.

“But you also know that if you have a problem with your program, it’s going to be built up--a lot of times out of proportion--and it’s certainly going to give a negative perception. That happens.”

Frieder recruited his problems; Snyder inherited his. After rebuilding the California program to national prominence, Snyder arrived at Arizona State with similar hopes. What he found was disarray.

In all, there have been nine incidents involving football players. Four of those incidents have occurred on Snyder’s watch.

The most disturbing arrest involved linebacker Raythan Smith, who was charged with aggravated assault last March after allegedly firing two shots at a man after a campus dance. A plea bargain was arranged and Smith could get a maximum of 7 1/2 years in prison.

Defensive back Demond Sampson was with Smith that night and has been indefinitely suspended. According to interviews conducted by police, Sampson would have used his gun had it not jammed.

Also in attendance was quarterback Garrick McGee. He was cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting incident, but in September pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary. He was given three years’ probation and was suspended by Arizona State for two games. He started his first last Saturday against Nebraska.

“Take Garrick McGee,” Snyder said. “There was absolutely no flag that would have kept me, or Lou Holtz, or Joe Paterno, or Don James, or anyone from recruiting this kid. He’s an NCAA qualifier . . . no legal records . . . his coach says he’s a great guy . . . he comes from a two-parent home. There was no flag telling you anything. You know what? He isn’t a bad guy. But he came here and really screwed up royal.”

Coor is tired of screw-ups, royal or otherwise. Earlier this month, in an unprecedented move by a university president, he ordered computer background checks on Arizona State’s 550 athletes. The Arizona Civil Liberties Union wasn’t thrilled, but Coor said it was vital that the school be made aware of any legal or criminal problems involving its athletes.

Coor also appointed a four-member task force to identify the problems involving the athletic department, as well as to devise sanctions to deal with student-athlete offenders. A first draft of that program should be available within a month, Harris said.

The idea of a sanctions plan has received mixed reviews. Everyone agrees that reform is needed, but how much and at what costs? Task force member Jerry Kingston, an economics professor and the school’s faculty athletic representative, said the new policy will allow for “discretionary judgment and extenuating circumstances.” But the coaches aren’t so sure.

Snyder, who considers himself something of an expert on crisis control, said the university ought to think twice about chiseling policy in stone. At Cal, Snyder weathered a period when three players were charged with rape, another player was shot on campus and a recruiting coordinator was fired. By the time he took the Arizona State job, Cal’s football players had a higher graduation rate than the general student population, there were no significant legal problems and the team was ranked No. 7 in the country.

“Having punitive actions is not teaching,” he said. “Regulations don’t cover all the bases. The NCAA tried to do it with this thing (Snyder reached for an NCAA rules manual) and tried to cover everything. You just can’t legislate it. If we think we can totally legislate punishment . . . well, that’s why you have judges.”

Frieder said he worries about depriving a prospective recruit of an educational opportunity just because of a past indiscretion. He is also concerned about compromising his program’s competitiveness.

“But anything that we did to assess a person’s background, especially if they had trouble, I don’t have a problem with that at all,” he said. “But on the other hand, can you imagine when we’re recruiting against UCLA and Arizona and Michigan and Syracuse, we come in now and we’ve got to have an background investigation on them, but the other schools don’t? How do you think that’s going to fare with the kids and their parents?”

Brock said it shouldn’t matter. Having to make tough, potentially disruptive decisions is the price Arizona State must pay as it tries to restore integrity to the athletic department. In fact, Brock said, he thinks a special committee should be formed to determine if a questionable recruit can receive a scholarship. Make the university, not just the coach, accountable for the scholarship, Brock said.

“We have a lot of these kids on probation. Well, I think the athletic department is on probation,” he said. “I think that being able to give a kid a second chance here from this point on is probably not as possible as it might have once been. We’re in a situation where we’re at the level of highest scrutiny.”

The players apparently have sensed it. Cornerback Kevin Miniefield said he has overheard restaurant conversations in which the Arizona State program has been ridiculed. And on campus, Miniefield said, he and his teammates are now treated different from before the rash of incidents.

Linebacker Brett Wallerstedt said he disagreed with the idea of computerized background checks on athletes. “That bothered me,” he said. “It’s just the principle of the thing. How can they judge someone on what they did in the past? I think everyone should be able to screw up once.”

Arizona State doesn’t. With its reputation at stake, the school has decided to do whatever is necessary to restore order--even if the methods are distasteful.

Still, Frieder offered a disheartening prediction of things to come.

“There’s going to be a next one, OK?” he said. “It’s not a thing that’s not going to happen again. It is. There are going to be things that happen as long as you’re dealing with kids today.”

For Arizona State, there is no more frightening possibility. But the university isn’t alone. Or at least, it shouldn’t be.

“Obviously, people at other schools are thinking, ‘What’s wrong? What’s going on at ASU?’ ” Miniefield said. “But they’re also thinking, could they be next?”

THE ASU FILE

A chronology of key legal problems involving Arizona State athletes and coaches: JUNE, 1991

Basketball forward Ian Dale pleads guilty to attempted sexual assault and is put on three years’ probation. He remains on the team. NOVEMBER, 1991

Basketball players Stevin Smith, Jamal Faulkner, Lynn Collins and Dwayne Fontana plead guilty to fraudulent use of a telephone credit card. All four players are put on two years’ probation and allowed to remain on the team. MARCH, 1992

Linebacker Raythan Smith is arrested for aggravated assault. Smith is awaiting sentencing after a plea bargain. He could be imprisoned for a maximum of 7 1/2 years.

Linebacker Tim Smith pleads guilty to three counts of burglary and is put on three years’ probation and given a one-month deferred jail term. He is on indefinite suspension from the football team. APRIL, 1992

Wide receiver Eric Guliford pleads no contest to charges of staging a fake accident and collecting insurance payments. Receives three years’ probation. He remains on the team.

Basketball guard Lynn Collins is arrested and cited for criminal damage to a dormitory door. The 1991-92 season marked the end of his eligibility. JULY, 1992

Quarterback Grady Benton and wide receiver Derrick Land plead no contest to charges of using a stolen credit card. They are put on three years’ probation and suspended for the first game of the season. AUGUST, 1992

Fontana is arrested on suspicion of sexual assault. Charges are later dropped, but Fontana remains on indefinite suspension.

Faulkner violates probation and is sentenced to 30 days in jail. He is arrested three days after his release for misdemeanor assault and returned to jail. He has quit school and reportedly plans to transfer to the University of Cincinnati.

Basketball guard Marcel Capers is suspended for the fall semester after failing to pay a fine related to previous court appearance. He has since paid $200 of a $290 fine and is expected to rejoin the team in December. SEPTEMBER, 1992

Cornerback Demond Sampson is suspended indefinitely for his alleged participation in the Raythan Smith shooting incident.

Quarterback Garrick McGee pleads guilty to two counts of burglary. Given three years’ probation and a two-month deferred jail term. Suspended for the first two games of the season.

Baseball assistant coach Walter (Dub) Kilgo is arrested for burglary, four counts of trespassing and 12 counts of misdemeanor theft. He resigned Sunday and is awaiting trial.