Aug. 5, 2003

FORT WORTH, TEXAS -- Athletics Director Eric Hyman announced today that two violations in the TCU men's basketball program have been reported to the NCAA, and that he has accepted the resignation of restricted assistant basketball coach Jai Steadman.

An internal investigation conducted by university legal counsel, the athletics NCAA compliance officer, and the university's faculty athletics representative has established that impermissible transportation was provided to a prospective student-athlete to help him solve an F1 international student visa problem, and that impermissible academic assistance was provided to a currently enrolled student-athlete by expanding the contents of a draft of an academic paper, which was never turned in to the professor for a grade.

In addition to accepting the restricted assistant coach's resignation, TCU will:

1. Conduct a training program to ensure that athletic department personnel better understand what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate academic assistance for student-athletes (including notifying coaches that they should not be directly involved in reviewing or revising specific academic projects), and to emphasize that staff in the Athletics Academic Services Center are the appropriate individuals to assist the student-athletes.
2. Conduct a training program to ensure that student-athletes are aware that academic assistance should come from the Athletics Academic Services Center and that a coach's involvement should be limited to input on matters of a general academic nature.
3. Not sanction the currently enrolled student-athlete because the investigation confirmed that he had no knowledge that his paper, which he had asked to be proofed, was being expanded.
4. Declare the prospective student-athlete ineligible to compete, pending reinstatement qualifications; suspend him from 20 percent of the 2003-2004 countable contests; and require him to reimburse the estimated value of the transportation ($386.64).

These disciplinary actions follow NCAA rules guidelines.

"I regret this situation more than I can say," said Hyman. "We have made it absolutely clear to everyone that we will not tolerate any violations of the rules. Every effort has been made to act decisively and swiftly. I am proud of our recent accomplishments in TCU Athletics, and our entire staff is determined to maintain the highest ethical standards."

"This situation is extremely disappointing," said Chief Academic Officer and Provost William H. Koehler. "But I must say I am very pleased that the administrative system we have in place worked so well. We need to recognize and applaud the fact that the situation was discovered and dealt with fairly and effectively."

"I am very upset by these isolated incidences by one coach without my knowledge," added head men's basketball coach Neil Dougherty. "Basketball, like all other TCU sports, abides by the rules and is a program of integrity. It is extremely regrettable that this coach erred in judgment to the extent that he broke NCAA and institutional rules. Fortunately, our internal checks and balances caught the problem early enough to self-report and resolve the issues."