Tulsa Receives Harsh Penalties for Violations

All of Tulsa’s athletic programs will pay a price for violations by the university’s track and field program.

The school was banned from postseason competition in all sports this season, and the track and field program was put on three years probation. In addition, the women’s golf team had to forfeit its NCAA championship won in 1988.

Robert Donaldson, Tulsa president, said the university would consider an appeal, calling it an “unfathomable twist of logic” that the NCAA would penalize all athletes, especially after the school replaced the track coach 18 months ago and the NCAA applauded Tulsa for turning around the track program.

The NCAA said other athletic programs at Tulsa must suffer because the school could not have maintained Division I-A status if it had not cheated to keep the track program eligible.

The violations occurred during three consecutive seasons beginning in 1987-88. The NCAA said Tulsa track coaches allowed ineligible players to compete, encouraged players to use false names and lied about the number of participants who competed in meets.