Light Penalties for Louisville

Louisville’s basketball team was put on probation for two years Wednesday but will remain eligible to appear on television and play in the postseason.

The school was cited by the NCAA for 10 violations concerning recruiting, extra benefits and preferential treatment. It was spared more severe penalties because of its internal investigation.

Louisville Coach Denny Crum was relieved over the lenient verdict. “I’m proud of our program,” he said. “It’s impossible to control everything. Nobody wants to be on probation, but I feel good about this outcome and I feel good about the process.”

The school sent a 31-page report to the NCAA in February that revealed nine of the 10 violations.

The announcement ended a 1 1/2-year ordeal that started with a report by the Courier-Journal of Louisville involving improper contacts with recruits made by former volunteer strength coach Jimmy Thompson and improper phone calls and contacts made by former assistant coach Larry Gay.

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Because of academic problems, guard Miles Simon, Arizona’s only returning starter, will not play for the 19th-ranked Wildcats when they open the season Friday night against No. 7 North Carolina in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic in Springfield, Mass. It was not clear when he would return to the team.

Coach Lute Olsen called it “failure to fulfill an academic commitment.”

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Brigham Young Coach Roger Reid has apologized to the family of prize basketball recruit Chris Burgess but denies he told the Mormon youth he let down the church’s leaders when he picked Duke over BYU.

Meanwhile, the father of another high-profile Mormon athlete said Reid made similar comments when his son, Travis Knight, now of the Lakers, chose to play at Connecticut.

Burgess, a 6-11 senior from Woodbridge High in Irvine, said Reid told him “that I let nine million people down. He said I was letting down the prophet and the apostles.”