Mike Szostak
Providence Journal
June 22, 1989

SOUTH KINGSTOWN --- Recruiting is the area in which the most unethical behavior occurs in intercollegiate sports, according to a survey of college coaches.

Of 389 coaches responding to the survey, 382 listed recruiting as "the most unethical practice currently prevalent on the high school/collegiate level." And 162 coaches - 41.6 of those responding - also listed unethical behavior in the academic area.

That was some of the information garnered in a seven-question survey conducted by the Institute for International Sport - a non-profit organization, based at the University of Rhode Island, that seeks to promote international understanding through sports.

J. Richard Polidoro, the institute's associate director, will present his survey's findings today during a seminar series at URI on ethics and sportsmanship. The series continues through Saturday.

Poliduro said he promised anonymity when he mailed the survey to 780 directors of athletics at colleges and universities and asked them to distribute the questionnaire to their coaches.

Coaches from 153 schools, large and small, replied. They were asked to list practices they had experienced or perceived to be true. Of the 382 who replied on recruiting:

* 169 mentioned general recruiting practices and violations as a concern.

* 101 listed special inducements and special treatment of athletes as problems.

"They mentioned direct payment to athletes, gifts to athletes, payment to the family, payment from alumni - the old handshake - and preferred housing," Polidoro said. "They made reference to universities' condoning certain activities, universities that are slow to take action regarding rape, robbery and cocaine."

* 49 said recruiters misrepresent their institutions or lie to high-school athletes about program availability or requirements.

* 24 wrote of coaches who practiced abuses at other schools.

* 20 cited the recruiting of academically unprepared students.

Other practices mentioned by the coaches included use of illegal tryouts, paying high school coaches to talk to athletes and using foreign players exclusively.

"This didn't come as a surprise at all," said Polidoro, who served as chairman of the physical education department at URI for nine years until joining the institute last July. "Recruiting is an umbrella catch-all. There's a lot there."

Of the 162 coaches who mentioned ethics and academics:

* 67 referred to an emphasis on athletics over academics, or to a lack of standards. Polidoro said this applied particularly to Division 1 programs and to income-producing sports such as football and basketball.

* 30 claimed transcripts were altered or grades changed. "This blew me away a little bit," Polidoro said. "They wrote about the changing of high school grades and college and university grades, of athletes having other students take exams, SATs. That was an eye opener."

* 29 listed general academic cheating.

The bottom line "is that athletics at the collegiate level has relegated academics to a secondary position," Polidoro said.

Other ethical issues coaches mentioned included gamesmanship, encouraging the use of steroids or performance-enhancing drugs, physical or psychological intimidation of athletes and officials, exploitation and manipulation, winning at all costs, playing with injury, and personal relationships between coaches and athletes.

A slight majority of coaches, 218 of 389 (56 percent), believes a code of ethics is necessary. An overwhelming majority, over 90 percent, said they had no formal training in ethics in sports.

"Some referred to an undergraduate course in Philosophy 101, or a doctoral course. But it's clear that nothing has been done in the preparation of coaches for ethics. Some schools ought to take a look at it and start building it into their curriculum. There's clearly a need for it," Polidoro said.

At a seminar this afternoon, Polidoro said, he hoped the issues would be discussed in great detail by the panel, which will include Penn State football coach Joe Paterno and David Swank, the interim president at the University of Oklahoma. (Oklahoma's football coach, Barry Switzer, resigned Monday under the weight of problems including felony charges against six of his players and a three-year NCAA probation against the school.)

"We're just attempting to lay out expectations," Polidoro said. "And any progress is progress."

Results of survey

QUESTION:

What do you consider to be the most unethical practices in intercollegiate sports?

Recruiting practices 49%

Practices relating to academics 21%

Gamesmanship - bending of game's rules 9%

Encouraging use of steroids/performance-enhancing drugs 8%

Violence/intimidation of officials and athletes

(verbal, physical, mental) 4%

Win-at-all-costs philosophy 3%

Exploitation/manipulation of athlete 2%

Not aware of any unethical practices 2%

Using player in spite of injuries 1%

Player/coach personal relationships 1%

CATEGORIES OF RESPONSE

Recruiting practices

General practices/violations 44%

Special inducements/treatment of athletes 26%

Misrepresenting institution/lying to athletes 13%

Belittling other programs and universities 6%

Recruiting academically unprepared students 5%

Use of illegal tryouts 3%

Paying high school coaches to talk to athletes 1%

Using foreign players exclusively 1%

Practices relating to academics

Emphasis on athletics over academics (lack of standards) 41%

Altering transcripts/changing grades 19%

General academic cheating 18%

Lack of progress toward degree 10%

Inflating grades 9%

Giving bogus degrees/credits 2%

Adopting a code of ethics

by conferences, coaching assns.

Yes 56%

No 34%

No response 6%

Maybe 4%

389 coaches responded

Percentages are rounded