BG Reports

By: Matt Nye

Bowling Green State University is one of the 67 universities that haven’t been reported for a major violation in the past decade. There has been a rise in NCAA violations in the past couple years. With the big programs getting nailed, BG remains cautious about how they conduct their program.

The number of colleges that committed serious violations of the NCAA’s academic rules nearly double, from eight in the 1990s to 15 in the 2000s. The review did show that 53 of the 120 in the Bowl Subdivision have committed major rules violations from 2001 to 2011, according to analysis by Inside Higher Ed.

Last year the college football season was dominated by allegations and then eventual violations by the Ohio State Buckeyes because of free tattoos exchanged for autographs. A couple of seasons ago the big loser was University of Southern California when running back Reggie Bush was given illegal benefits when he was given a vehicle and a place to stay without complying with NCAA rules. This eventually led to him returning his Heisman Trophy and the school being banned from postseason play for two years.

Clint Dowdle, director of football operations for BGSU, said that there is no doubt that all areas of recruiting will be under a microscope.

“The best thing us coaches can do is to be knowledgeable of all the rules and check with our director of compliance when questions arise,” Dowdle said. “From our mail-outs to official visits, everything is organized and planned and shown to the director of compliance prior to doing them.”

Coaches are usually the people blamed when it comes to violations from the university, but sometimes it is the student athletes who make wrong decisions and put their whole team at risk.

Dev Kumar, a junior sports management major, works in the athletic department for BGSU and said he has noticed that the Falcons are willing to be an average team if it means to break the rules. Instead of going for the high-profile player that could lead to trying to get him illegally, BG sticks to high-quality players that they can stick to the rules in recruiting him.

“I think a lot of this stuff happens because of the high-profile coaches out there nowadays and how they have accepted this whatever-it-takes-to-win mentality, even if it is unethical,” Kumar said. “BG looks for high-character players and they put more of an emphasis on education rather than just on athletics and winning.”

Junior defensive tackle Jairus Campbell said the NCAA files new rules every year, so the players have to be aware of the changes every season.

“I was recruited by the whole coaching staff, and there was a regulated time when they were allowed to and for how long,” Campbell said. “We also have a lot of people come in and talk to us about staying out of trouble and how to react in certain situations.”

“At the end of the day, if a student-athlete is approached with some type of offer, we hope that we have given the player enough education to say no,” Dowdle said. “Since we are confident in the way Coach Clawson is running our program, we don’t feel under pressure because we have nothing to hide.”

For more on the Buckeye’s violations watch here: Ohio State Violations

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 6th, 2011 at 11:05 am and is filed under Local stories, Student Contributor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.