Apparel-Gate Final Resolution - Thursday Jan 29th

[Shock Top]

like pictures, especially the picture that CU boosters were distributing?

Details? PM if necessary.

[SB Shock]

Details? PM if necessary.

Not much to tell except CU booster were emailing and passing around a picture of gene with his arms around, looking down their shirts of a couple well endowed, I suppose aunts.

[Kung Wu]

Seeing lots of feedback from (former) players on facebook.

Let's just say they aren't happy with the university or ADES.

The Under Armor issue was more toxic than people realized.

[SB Shock]

Ignorance is never an excuse. And it seems like as soon as butler saw what was happening he knew something was broken - so why did no other previous coach?

[Shock Top]

I've seen comments like "The discount was available to everyone" and "discounted apparel doesn't effect the product on the field"

Not saying what side is right/wrong, but it's just funny how differently some people view the whole situation.

[bleed yellow]

I've seen comments like "The discount was available to everyone" and "discounted apparel doesn't effect the product on the field"

Not saying what side is right/wrong, but it's just funny how differently some people view the whole situation.

My view of the whole situation is: The team was trying to overcome the Gene hex last season, everyone was eager to get that season started with Butler at the helm, then the NCAA seemingly buzzed in and stung the program with this apparel-gate stinger.. A NCAA investigation is never good.. The whole thing is another negative in a already tense situation around the Eck. On top of the teams record, just watching them play and visabely being able to see the affects of apparel-gate creates another head scratcher in a time when we don't need anymore scratchers. I doubt more NCAA investigations will follow, but who knows.

[shockfan89_]

Ignorance is never an excuse. And it seems like as soon as butler saw what was happening he knew something was broken - so why did no other previous coach?

It appears both the previous and current coaches noticed the same thing and reacted much the same way. The previous coach questioned the admin assistant and was told she was making sure everything was being done correctly. The current coach talked to a player, not the admin assistant, and got a more accurate picture of what was going on. Below are excerpts from the NCAA ruling:

The Former Head Coach Observing Student-Athletes Ordering Apparel -
Sometime in December 2012, the former head coach noticed three or four baseball
student-athletes gathered around the former administrative assistant's desk. Later in the
day he asked her what the student-athletes had been doing; the former administrative
assistant replied that they were ordering Christmas presents. The former head coach was
aware that the team apparel contract permitted purchases for the team at wholesale
pricing if the team ever exceeded the annual product allowance. In response to the
former administrative assistant's explanation, the former head coach admonished her to
"be sure [the student-athletes] pay for it themselves and are paying the same price … you
sell it to other people for, outsiders, whatever that is." The former administrative
assistant replied "they are, I'm making sure of that," leaving the former head coach with
the impression that the student-athletes were receiving no special consideration. He
admitted that, in hindsight, he could have asked her further follow-up questions.

The institution hired the current head coach on June 13, 2013. On August 24, he noticed
four baseball student-athletes gathered around the computer of the former administrative
assistant in the baseball office. He told them that they could not use the computers in the
office and directed them to the lounge where such equipment was available for use by
student-athletes.
By November 2013, the head coach had completed his team's fall practices and much of
his off-campus recruiting. As he was spending more time in the baseball office, he began
to notice a large number of packages from the apparel provider being delivered to the
former administrative assistant. Recalling the August incident, the head coach became
concerned that student-athletes might be receiving items of apparel. On November 15,
the head coach asked one member of the team whether he had received any such items.
The student-athlete confirmed that he had ordered discounted items of apparel through
the former administrative assistant.

[SB Shock]

There was a section in the report that kind of explained maybe why this got by Gene (and why the program was faultering).

The former head coach never noticed any of the packages containing merchandise ordered through the VIP account for the student-athletes from February 2012 until his departure in June 2013. From December 2011 through 2012 and into 2013 he dealt with a personal situation that resulted in him often being out of the office. Even at times he was present, he was often in his office with the door closed. As a result, as he said at the hearing, he "did not interact as much."



During those times, the former head coach often entered into the building through a back door, away from the former administrative assistant's work space. He was rarely in the locker room, where the former administrative assistant delivered the packages for the student-athletes when the packages arrived at the baseball office.