Amid Turmoil, Athletic Director, Top Associate Resign at Northridge

The two top officials in the Cal State Northridge athletic department resigned Tuesday, one week after women’s basketball Coach Michael Abraham was arrested in the campus gymnasium and charged with intent to distribute crack cocaine.

Paul Bubb, the athletic director for three tumultuous years, stepped down under pressure from President Blenda J. Wilson. Judy Brame resigned as associate athletic director and acting women’s basketball coach, although she will remain a tenured professor.

Wilson said that an interim athletic director will be chosen within a week and that a search will begin for a permanent replacement.

The drastic action comes on the heels of admissions by Bubb and Brame that they knew of allegations by players two years ago that Abraham was using drugs. Neither Bubb nor Brame informed Wilson of the charges.

Bubb and Brame also denied any knowledge of suspected drug use by Abraham after the coach’s arrest until the players who made the allegations came forward in recent days.

“I respect the personal responsibility [Bubb and Brame] have taken,” Wilson said. “They believed their effectiveness was diminished because of the severity of the incident and the fact that they had previously known of allegations and did not report them.”

The events of the past week are merely the latest in a long string of athletic department crises under Bubb, the most serious of which was cutting four men’s sports in June 1997, a decision reversed two months later because of public outcry.

Bubb, 41, appeared Tuesday night at a meeting of the university’s 11-member advisory board on athletics and in an emotion-filled voice read a prepared statement:

“As information about Michael Abraham has been reviewed over the past week by the university, my judgment has been questioned. . . . While I found some of the issues the student-athletes brought to me to be true and I addressed those issues with Coach Abraham, I did not have information presented to me during my review which could confirm drug use by Coach Abraham.

“I have given my best to the university and leave confident in my mind that the decisions I have made as athletic director were in the best interest of the department and the university.”

Brame, 58, spent the morning in her office and said in a statement: “Because I care deeply about Cal State Northridge athletics and my effectiveness in this area, I have concluded that it is in the best interest of the program for me to resign my administrative responsibilities.”

Wilson acted quickly after an internal investigation was completed Tuesday. She met with head coaches at 7:30 a.m., spoke with the women’s basketball team in the afternoon and announced the resignations to the advisory board.

“For me, the reality of drugs in our society is the most damaging and evil thing our democracy is facing,” she said. “This is a serious matter and the entire university community is experiencing pain.”

The head coaches expressed to Wilson a variety of concerns about leadership in the athletic department, firming her resolve to oust Bubb. She addressed three issues with the coaches.

* She asked if they had known of Abraham’s alleged involvement with drug trafficking before he was arrested. No one was aware of Abraham’s involvement, although one coach told her that Abraham’s former assistants likely had known.

* Wilson asked how the image of the athletic department could be improved in the wake of the arrest. A majority of the coaches said they would spearhead an anti-drug program by volunteering themselves for random drug testing.

“If we are going to conduct drug-testing standards for our student-athletes, we ought to be willing to do the same thing,” said Bobby Braswell, men’s basketball coach. “We need to let the community know we have nothing to hide.”

* Wilson concluded the meeting by asking for “blind support” on whatever decisions may be forthcoming, and the coaches agreed.

“This is tragic that things had to end up this way,” Braswell said. “At a time we are trying to establish a Division I program we need things to be heading into a positive direction.

“Although I am very appreciative of Paul hiring me into this position, I understand his decision and Judy’s decision to step down and do what is best for the athletic department. People need to know we are still here and still operating.”

Wilson said she already has received faxes and phone calls from candidates interested in becoming athletic director.

“We need a strong leader who can bring us together as a team,” said Michael Rehm, athletic director for development. “We need to do this swiftly.”

Wilson said she is allowing the women’s basketball team to decide whether to hire a new head coach or promote one of the current assistants--Frozena Jerro, Karon Howell or Tara Harrington.

Correspondent Mike Bresnahan contributed to this story.