Tosh Lupoi under investigation for possible violations

[WizardHawk]

Coach who was on Sarkisian's staff at Washington under investigation - latimes.com

Might as well start a thread for it. If he is under investigation for violations it means UW will be at risk of penalties and I'm sure there will be more that comes out about it.

Huskies defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi is being investigated by USC and Washington over allegations that he paid for private tutoring for a recruit, a violation of NCAA rules. Sarkisian says he was unaware of alleged actions.

USC and Washington are investigating whether a football coach who worked under Steve Sarkisian at Washington violated NCAA rules by paying for private tutoring and online classes for a recruit.
The allegations surround the recruitment of Andrew Basham, a former defensive lineman at Lynnwood High in Washington, who signed a letter of intent with the Huskies last February but did not qualify academically to enroll.

 

[Ironbreaker]

I'm hearing rumors coach Pete has an out of his contract if UW comes under investigations.

Petersen to Texas!

 

[Ironbreaker]

I'm hearing rumors coach Pete has an out of his contract if UW comes under investigations.

Petersen to Texas!

...looks like USC has an opt out of the contract with Sark as well if he comes under investigations.

Who says the off season will be boring???

 

[WizardHawk]

...looks like USC has an opt out of the contract with Sark as well if he comes under investigations.

Who says the off season will be boring???

I'd laugh my ass off if he got dumped for this. Fitting really. I mean I don't hope it happens as those kids at USC have really suffered enough for others sins already, but I'd still laugh.

 

[WizardHawk]

UW, USC Investigating Allegations Against Washington FB Assistant

UW, USC Investigating Allegations Against Washington FB Assistant

Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times:

Mike Davis, a throwing coach who helped Basham win a state shotput title, told The Times that Tosh Lupoi, Washington’s defensive line coach, gave him $3,000 to cover private tutoring for [Andrew] Basham through a test preparation company. Davis said he also received $1,500 from Lupoi to reimburse Basham’s father for online classes Andrew could use to raise his grade-point average.

If proven, this would be in violation of NCAA Bylaw 13.15.1:

An institution or a representative of its athletics interests shall not offer, provide or arrange financial assistance, directly or indirectly, to pay (in whole or in part) the costs of the prospective student-athlete’s educational or other expenses for any period prior to his or her enrollment or so the prospective student-athlete can obtain a postgraduate education.

That raises three questions: can the NCAA prove the violations and what does it mean for Steve Sarkisian, who was the Washington football head coach at the time and was recently hired by the University of Southern California. Also, what happens with Washington and the new enforcement program. As for the first question, this helps the NCAA a lot:

[Davis] also said he contacted the NCAA and then phoned Lupoi to inform him of The Times’ inquiry.

For Sarkisian, these violations would fall under the new head coach responsibility bylaws. Proposal 2012–15 was adopted with immediate effect by the Board of Directors on October 30, 2012. The payments are alleged to have occurred on or about February 25 and May 18, 2013. That means Sarkisian’s responsibility will be judged under the new bylaw which presumes he is responsible for any violation committed by his assistants. He can rebut that presumption by showing that he adequately monitored the activities of his assistants and promoted an atmosphere of compliance. While the NCAA had issued best practice documents about what that entails, no case has established what the Committee on Infractions says is enough to rebut the presumption of responsibility.

For Washington, the allegations will be processed under the new enforcement program. Any violations will be classified under the new four-tier violation structure. Any sanctions would also be based on the new penalty structure since the alleged conduct all occurred after October 30, 2012, when Proposal 2012–16 (which established the new enforcement program) was adopted.

 

[Ironbreaker]

UW, USC Investigating Allegations Against Washington FB Assistant

What exactly is the new 4 tier violation structure?

 

[seahawksfan234]

The UW has plenty of tutoring available on campus for student athletes. I know that Bashman was just a high schooler at the time but why wouldn't Tosh just have Bashman come to the UW campus to receive test prep (I assume for the SAT) with a UW tutor?

I did a test prep program for the LSAT and basically all they do is teach you the shit that is in the test prep book. It does not take a genius to teach someone this stuff. What an idiot move by Tosh, it would have been a lot easier to find another way around it.

This just shows how much shady shit goes on in the NCAA. If this is the type of treatment a 3 star middle-tier DT gets, imagine what the 4 and 5 star kids get? Tosh could have gone about this in a better way. He is an idiot for getting caught. He is an outstanding recruiter but it surprises me is he so stupid as to do something like this.

I mean hell he could have paid the tutoring service himself and probably got away with it.

 

[WizardHawk]

I just wonder why now? I mean this happened last spring and while those involved were not happy about how they perceived Tosh (and by him, UW) left the kid high and dry after he came up short on that test, it was a long time ago. Why did they report all of this at this time? Did I miss that part of the story? I admit I sort of skimmed the full story on the LA times.

 

[WizardHawk]

What exactly is the new 4 tier violation structure?

New Violation Structure - NCAA.org

 

[WizardHawk]

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[Destroydacre]

God damn it. Even if little comes of this, this is the last thing UW needs going on right now. Tosh Lupoi GTFO!

 

[RegentDenali]

The UW has plenty of tutoring available on campus for student athletes. I know that Bashman was just a high schooler at the time but why wouldn't Tosh just have Bashman come to the UW campus to receive test prep (I assume for the SAT) with a UW tutor?

I did a test prep program for the LSAT and basically all they do is teach you the shit that is in the test prep book. It does not take a genius to teach someone this stuff. What an idiot move by Tosh, it would have been a lot easier to find another way around it.

This just shows how much shady shit goes on in the NCAA. If this is the type of treatment a 3 star middle-tier DT gets, imagine what the 4 and 5 star kids get? Tosh could have gone about this in a better way. He is an idiot for getting caught. He is an outstanding recruiter but it surprises me is he so stupid as to do something like this.

I mean hell he could have paid the tutoring service himself and probably got away with it.

Don't think it's that easy. I don't think universities could provide services like that to recruits per NCAA guidelines. Some of these kids don't have the brain power and need these kind of dedicated services to make them appear college eligible. Tosh was obviously trying to get him eligible, whatever it took.

UW is one of the top 25 academic universities in the US. Even though all of the big boys have class tracks that are created to assist SAs through their years on a campus, some kids are JUCO material no matter what or have serious learning disabilities. It's easier at the schools like Oregon and Zona with their borderline CC academics, but with schools like the Cali's and UW, it's more difficult to keep them academically eligible.

But what always pisses me off is how the SEC gets away with murder when in comes to this. They have so many gumps on their campuses who can't even spell their names and the NCAA doesn't give a rip, but if something minor like this happens in the PAC, they want to launch a 2 year publicized investigation into it with serious punishments.

Oregon got what was coming to them because they tried to play the SEC game and failed, but still, the NCAA is so baised with what they let the SEC get away with.

We'll probably get the death penalty for this, while SEC keeps gumping 24/7.

 

[mcnabb7542]

I'd laugh my ass off if he got dumped for this. Fitting really. I mean I don't hope it happens as those kids at USC have really suffered enough for others sins already, but I'd still laugh.

I said it on the big board and I'll say it again, he better prepare to be fired. SC boosters, fans aren't gonna put up with this shit anymore, the whole Bush thing set them back a few years, there not gonna tolerate another coach lying about one of his own coaches...

 

[mcnabb7542]

I'm hearing rumors coach Pete has an out of his contract if UW comes under investigations.

Petersen to Texas!

I believe you should get -5 thumbs on this pal, that is disturbing thought of Coach heading to Texas, (though I'm sure there will be three threads about that today)

 

[Ironbreaker]

I believe you should get -5 thumbs on this pal, that is disturbing thought of Coach heading to Texas, (though I'm sure there will be three threads about that today)

It really is a disturbing thought. Though consider this, what if UW gets slammed? I don't think we will just based on what we see as of now, but what if further investigations show this to be just the tip of the iceberg?

I'm not sure that as a new coach I would want anything to do with that program going forward if I were going to be on sanctions for 4-5 years for something I had nothing to do with.


I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the Texas hiring committee reach out to coach Pete in the coming weeks. Maybe sooner.

Yes, I'm assuming the worst case in this scenario.

god forbid it gets that bad.

 

[mcnabb7542]

It really is a disturbing thought. Though consider this, what if UW gets slammed? I don't think we will just based on what we see as of now, but what if further investigations show this to be just the tip of the iceberg?

I'm not sure that as a new coach I would want anything to do with that program going forward if I were going to be on sanctions for 4-5 years for something I had nothing to do with.


I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the Texas hiring committee reach out to coach Pete in the coming weeks. Maybe sooner.

Yes, I'm assuming the worst case in this scenario.

god forbid it gets that bad.

If and that of course is one of those big If's, it opens a huge shit storm on Montlake, I don't think he would leave. He would ride it out, and take the higher road, his past history has shown that, but he would make sure beat the piss out of SC so Sark gets a clear message...

 

[TheDman875]

So Lupoi paid for online classes and a tutor for a guy that wasn't academically eligible to be enrolled at UW? I hope that's the only incident that comes out of this because that's peanuts compared to other programs who got barely slapped on the wrist from the NCAA for larger infractions. Looks like Lupoi will be unemployed for awhile.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Don't think it's that easy. I don't think universities could provide services like that to recruits per NCAA guidelines. Some of these kids don't have the brain power and need these kind of dedicated services to make them appear college eligible. Tosh was obviously trying to get him eligible, whatever it took.

UW is one of the top 25 academic universities in the US. Even though all of the big boys have class tracks that are created to assist SAs through their years on a campus, some kids are JUCO material no matter what or have serious learning disabilities. It's easier at the schools like Oregon and Zona with their borderline CC academics, but with schools like the Cali's and UW, it's more difficult to keep them academically eligible.

But what always pisses me off is how the SEC gets away with murder when in comes to this. They have so many gumps on their campuses who can't even spell their names and the NCAA doesn't give a rip, but if something minor like this happens in the PAC, they want to launch a 2 year publicized investigation into it with serious punishments.

Oregon got what was coming to them because they tried to play the SEC game and failed, but still, the NCAA is so baised with what they let the SEC get away with.

We'll probably get the death penalty for this, while SEC keeps gumping 24/7.

No I know that it is probably against the rules. My point was I think it would have been easier for Tosh to do it that way. Save $3,000 and makes it easier to not get caught. If you have someone from the school tutor him you don't leave a paper trail.

Shit like this happens on a regular basis. College football is big money and 3 grand is nothing on the scale of things.

I am mostly worried because if Tosh spent $3 grand on a mid tier 3 star DT I worry at what else he has done.

There is no doubt that this is the tip of the iceberg, I do not think there is even the slightest question of that. This is a regular occurrence in the recruiting game these days. The important part is that nothing else comes out. What worries me is that now with an investigation into it they might find more. It is pretty unlikely considering anyone who received benefits is currently playing college football right now and would not want to throw that away in exchange for testifying against the guy who helped them out financially and likely continues to do so.

Tip of the iceberg? 100% Yes, no denying that. It goes on at nearly every program in the country, including our beloved UW. Will any more come out? Probably not.

 

[seahawksfan234]

So Lupoi paid for online classes and a tutor for a guy that wasn't academically eligible to be enrolled at UW? I hope that's the only incident that comes out of this because that's peanuts compared to other programs who got barely slapped on the wrist from the NCAA for larger infractions. Looks like Lupoi will be unemployed for awhile.

I would be surprised if he stays unemployed for long, he is an excellent recruiter. Despite this leaking I would still be happy to have him at UW. Whoever replaces him will do the exact same thing, hopefully they won't get caught though. The only problem with retaining him is that he may come under increased scrutiny in the future.

Tosh has likely given a lot more money to a lot more players. Likely quite a few of them currently on the team. Let us all just sit back for a moment and be grateful that the kid he gave money to never qualified to play for UW.

I suppose this is all pretty blasphemous to say about my own school but it happens on a larger scale throughout the country at other schools as well. It is just part of college football these days. It would be ignorant not to acknowledge that. Kind of why I cringe whenever I see pro athletes say college players should be paid, considering most of them probably received plenty of benefits in college.

 

[Ironbreaker]

Tosh via twitter

Just get rid of the guy. The cloud over his head isn't going away until he does. It's followed him from Cal, and it got bigger here.

Whats the hold up? Move on...