Two days after former women's tennis coach Kathy Bull sued Ball State University claiming wrongful termination, the school was penalized Wednesday with three years probation for six major rules violations that occurred during her tenure with the team.
Along with the probation, the NCAA Committee on Infractions agreed to Ball State's self-imposed reduction in the women's tennis team's practice time from 20 hours to 18 hours per week during the upcoming school year.
The Cardinals self-reported the violations in October which includes excessive practice requirements, asking players to falsify practice hours and providing two incoming players $125 loans to pay for residence hall deposits before the start of the school year.
Paul Dee, NCAA chair of the Committee on Infractions, said the violation for exceeding practice time was the most important matter that the committee considered.
"In this case it was important to consider the limitations of the countable hours related to athletic activities," Dee said. "Those limitations are in play to provide a safeguard for the student-athletes."
The NCAA stated in its 20-page report that the women's tennis team exceeded practice time multiple times from 2007 to 2009 and Bull did not provide her team with the NCAA-required two days off per week. Bull also displayed a disregard for NCAA rules and player welfare, according to the report.
"[I'm] not a particularly rule-bound kind of person when it comes to these NCAA rules," Bull said in an interview with the enforcement committee.
Bull was relieved of her coaching duties in October and filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the university claiming wrongful termination. In her 21 seasons as the Cardinals' head coach, Bull was 233-210 but never won a conference title.
Bull's attorney Marissa Pollick of Michigan said the NCAA's decision will not effect their case against the university.
"The bottom line is that Ball State's employment actions were retaliatory in nature," Pollick said. "It's always been our position that Ball State's use of the NCAA is the pretext for their actions against Kathy. "
The committee cited two instances of what it termed unethical conduct on Bull's part, for providing false and misleading information and requesting that players conduct an impermissible practice.
According to the NCAA report, after Bull was informed a fitness run counted toward the team's eight hours of allowed practice, during the week of Aug. 23-29 she asked three players via a text message to say the team did not have two practices that week.
Bull also sent an e-mail the following week to two players requesting that they, and not coaches, conduct the next day's practice to avoid going over the time limit. The intent was to classify the practice as "voluntary," but the NCAA said that was not accurate because she had initiated the idea of a practice. Bull denied in an April 5 hearing that she engaged in any unethical conduct.
The NCAA, though, stated in its report the violations were major infractions and not inadvertent because on they occurred on multiple days and Bull took specific actions she knew were wrong.
Dee said the excessive-practice violation was more common in the past than today.
"At the beginning of the implementation of this program I think it was probably more prevalent than it is today. I think people have come to understand that you need to protect the student-athlete," he said. "At the beginning there might have been some reluctance or resistance to [the rules] but I think over time [practice violations] have continued to reduce."
Along with these penalties, the NCAA imposed a three-year show-cause period on Bull. If a college hires Bull before July 2013 she will not be allowed to have any contact with her players during the summer. She must provide the school with team practice hours on a daily basis and attend a regional rules seminar every year.
The NCAA also approved Ball State's self-imposed penalty of reducing the amount of practice time in the off-season from eight to six hours per week for the rest of this summer.
Athletics Director Tom Collins said in a statement Wednesday that he understands and accepts the NCAA's ruling.
"We appreciate the hard work and careful consideration of the committee and the NCAA Enforcement Staff throughout its review of this difficult matter," he said. "The university will continue to strive to abide fully by all NCAA rules. Most important, we will continue our commitment to providing the most positive experience possible for all of our student-athletes."
Both Collins and Ball State President Jo Ann Gora declined further comment on the NCAA's decision.
This is the third time in the last 16 years the NCAA has placed Ball State on probation.
The Cardinals received a two-year probation in October 2007 following a scandal involving more than 40 athletes using scholarship money to buy textbooks not needed for their classes. The athletics department also was put on a two-year probation in 1994 for violating NCAA bylaws.
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