Quotes from Announcement of End of Ed Martin Investigation
11/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | General
Announcing End of Ed Martin Investigation
University of Michigan Release (11/7/02)
Statement by President Mary Sue Coleman (11/7/02)
Statement by Athletics Director Bill Martin (11/7/02)
The University of Michigan today (Nov. 7) announced the conclusion of its investigation into the men's basketball program and improper monetary loans made by retired autoworker Ed Martin to four U-M players. Following are comments from several U-M officials:
Mary Sue Coleman, U-M President
On the NCAA agreeing with those sanctions ... "We don't know what the NCAA will do. We do know that we will have to go in front of the Infractions Committee. We certainly hope that they will agree with (the University's sanctions), because we believe that these are consistent with their practice in the past, as well as consistent with what went wrong here at the University of Michigan."
On what the two years probation will be ... "The two years' probation means that we will be looking very closely at everything that happens around the basketball program. I will be receiving regular reports from Associate Athletic Director (Director of Compliance) Judy Van Horn about compliance issues that we will be watching very closely. If something bad happens---which we don't expect because we have the best coach in the country running our program---severe actions would result."
On her emotions ... "When I realized what I was going to say today, this was very tough. When I looked at the basketball media guide, I realized that it was going to change. This was really hard. We are embarrassed because this is not what Michigan is all about. This has been a big impact, but it is relief too. We now have a bright future with a great coach and great young people. You are going to be proud again of Michigan."
On the impact of Michigan's national academic integrity ... "Michigan is a stellar institution that has a tremendous academic reputation, and it has a good athletic reputation too. I truly believe that this is an anomaly. I absolutely believe that we have the right people in place now to rise above this and we will continue to be an academic star in the country."
On the effect of the sanctions on fundraising or recruiting ... "We have done a lot of things even before this day. We hired one of the best coaches in the country. We hired a new compliance director who has put together a fabulous program. We have done things already before we came to this day. At this stage I feel very confident that we can move forward. I feel that our alumni will understand, and will be relieved like we are, and be ready to move on to great, great men's basketball at Michigan."
Bill Martin, U-M Director of Athletics
On the federal government getting involved to help get the truth ... "Absolutely, we have said all along that what we wanted to do is find out the truth and once we did we would act. If you notice the letter of inquiry from the NCAA is dated Oct. 29. This is Nov. 7; we have acted as soon as we possibly could. Like I said this isn't the last page of the story, but it is the beginning of the last chapter."
On the NCAA Infractions Committee meetings and Michigan's time frame for meeting with them ... "The Infractions Committee has a regular schedule. The next scheduled meeting is in December and then there is one in February. They have on occasion had extraordinary meetings; we don't expect that at this time. Depending on their case load, we could get before them in December, but as far as practicality it will probably be February."
On if the postseason ban will include the Big Ten Tournament ... "No, because that is part of the Big Ten Conference schedule."
On what happens to the records when the games are deleted ... "When we delete those wins from the records, we no longer won those games. By default the other team won those games."
On what Mr. Bill Martin has to say to the other programs and players nationwide that Michigan played during those years ... "I apologize."
On if the four players mentioned will ever be welcomed back to the University ... "I would welcome them to apologize to the University."
Is there any legal action that the University can take against the players involved ... "Our focus at this time is to get through the Infractions Committee and we will address that issue at that time. We haven't entirely ruled it out at this point."
On former Michigan head coach Steve Fisher knowing of the violations ... "I think you have to refer to our report where that issue is addressed. In the official letter of inquiry sent to us, Steve Fisher is not mentioned."
On any other Michigan players being mentioned ... "No other players were mentioned in the letter of inquiry or in our report."
On what went wrong and why it wouldn't happen again ... "All we can deal with is young men and women when they come to our campus. We have to have our department operate under a culture of compliance. Obviously in this situation, we all know that there were preexisting relations not only with players but also with families that went back to even grade school. I frankly don't know what we can do about that. What we have to do is hire the best coaches, who create the proper culture, and who work with our compliance officers that make certain -- regardless of what the prior relationships are -- once those young men and women come to Michigan it stops."
On violations that occurred after Coach Fisher's tenure here at U-M ... "With respect to issue of lack of institutional control, please read the letter of inquiry. You will see that it is not addressed in there. It doesn't matter if it is a secondary or primary violation -- we still as an intuition have the ultimate responsibility for it. With respect to what happened a year after Steve Fisher left I simply can't address that."
On any reason the NCAA will not accept Michigan's self-imposed sanctions ... "You never know. We trust that they will look at the sanctions that we have imposed. As President Coleman said, we looked at this situation in light of other infraction cases that occurred around the country. The penalties and sanctions that we imposed on ourselves are consistent with them and they are very serious. To me, taking down the banners really got to me this morning."
On his emotions ... "It is very mixed. The very first week I came to Michigan, March of 2000, I was told by Marvin Krislov that Ed Martin was going to plea bargain that week and I had to get prepared to deal with the issue, both internally and externally. Every day I have a sign on my desk of the top three things I want to accomplish that day and Ed Martin has been at the top of that list since my very first day. I am relieved that we are so close to this being over. But at the same time, we are taking down banners in Crisler and rewriting the record books. That is tough for an institution with the traditions and history that we have had for over a century here at Michigan."
On if Chris Webber is held in greater disregard ... "Chris Webber is under federal investigation at this time and it would be inappropriate for me to comment in any way on that situation."
On other objects in Crisler Arena that need to be changed ... "We are going to have to address that. Our focus has been on getting through the inquiry, getting our report back to the NCAA as soon as possible and getting on their agenda so we can move forward. Obviously, there are a lot of little details that we have to clean up."
On the timing of these sanctions given the interview with Ed Martin's attorneys in July ... "We didn't know what the contents of the letter of inquiry would be. That is the reason we waited. We didn't know what the charges against us were going to be until we got the letter."
On the involvement of head coach Tommy Amaker and the decisions of the sanctions ... "President Coleman, Coach Amaker, Marvin Krislov and myself sat down and reviewed these sanctions together and agreed to them unanimously."
On the sanctions being light-handed ... "The specific sanctions that we imposed are very, very serious on our program. The specific issue is one of extra benefits. Ed Martin made loans to four players, which is an extra benefit to those four and not to the entire student body. Had he made similar loans to every student at Michigan that wouldn't have been considered an extra benefit. Again, we felt that the sanctions that we imposed after reviewing the entire situation were consistent with NCAA practices in the past, other relevant cases and the advice from both our internal general council and outside council.
On the future perception of the basketball program ... "All we can do is demonstrate to our fans and our alumni and the entire Michigan family our commitment to winning the right way. You win on the court and off the court, and I think that we regain our creditability by first winning off the court with our kids graduating and being good citizens. I told Tommy from the first day, build a program, not a team. I am not interested in instant winners, we are interested in a program that we can be proud of. You do that by recruiting the kids that want to come here for the right reasons."
On it being fair for a program to punish itself this severely when the coaches and assistants that were directly involved with the violations got away free ... "That's life. It probably isn't [fair], but that is how the system works. The NCAA does not look at the passage of time. Many have referred to that in the past that we have been in a period of limbo here while we have waited for six years for this investigation to come to a close. As you know, this is the third investigation that we have done surrounding the same events, but this is the first time that our General Counsel has had the ability to work with the U.S Attorney and their subpoena powers to get at the facts. Unfortunately that is the system of justice that we have to live with and we all have to suffer from it today, the entire Michigan family. Every time I talk to a dean on campus, they want to know when we are going to get this behind them because it affects them as they go out and talk to their alums. The first question that they ask in many cases is, what are you doing with your basketball program and when are you going to get this behind you. It is so important to do it and get it behind us."
On whether he thinks Michigan made a mistake by not imposing sanctions three or four years earlier ... "No, I don't. The reason is that all we had at that time were rumors. We didn't have any facts, and we didn't get any facts until this past July 26 when we were able to interview Ed Martin's attorneys. We really weren't in a position to act until this past summer when we had the facts and then it was up to the NCAA to prepare their official letter of inquiry. So we couldn't."
On whether the U-M would do anything for this year's season ticket holders and fans ... "[I would] apologize. Nothing special has been planned at this time other than what Coach Amaker has done to put a great program together with enthusiastic young men. We are going to have great basketball games, and if you have any special ideas, I would love to hear them."
On not imposing scholarship reductions ... "We looked at the scholarship issue, but we didn't impose any scholarship reductions on the program for principally the reason that the NCAA looks at reduction of scholarship when there has been a recruitment infraction. This is not a recruitment infraction; this is an extra benefit situation."
On the effect on recruiting ... "I think it is going to be positive. Take a look at how Coach Amaker has recruited this year. He has done an exceptional job. I think this is an absolute positive instead of an unknown. No longer can other programs possibly say 'Why go to Michigan; we are not certain what is going to happen' The major issue before us is that we are going to get this behind us very quickly."
Marvin Krislov, U-M General Counsel
On the exact meaning of recruiting inducements ... "Recruiting inducements is NCAA language for benefits received by student-athletes before they enroll at a University. There is no disagreement [between the University and the NCAA] about what happened. Recruiting inducements refers to benefits that occurred when students are in middle school or high school."
On meeting with Ed Martin's attorneys ... "We met with Ed Martin's attorneys after an arrangement with the U.S. Attorney's office and the NCAA as well. That was a way that we were able to obtain information at that time. Martin's attorneys had pretty complete knowledge of what had happened. Martin was available close by and there were a few occasions that they had to step out and talk to him. We never talked to Martin directly."
On verification of the information that was given by Ed Martin's attorneys ... "The information was verified by the representative of the U.S. Attorney and the FBI, based on the information that they have compiled."
On any other players being mentioned by Ed Martin's attorneys ... "We did learn that Mr. Martin provided some benefits to other Detroit area high schoolers that later attended other collegiate institutions. And that is referred to in our report."
On Ed Martin having contact with any other Michigan student-athletes outside of the basketball program ... "We didn't learn of any such contacts. We asked about his relationships with student-athletes at the University of Michigan and at other institutions."
On whether former assistant coach Perry Watson's name was involved in the allegations ... "I would refer you to the report, but as Bill Martin said there is [only] one charge that is brought up by the NCAA, which regards improper loans that made to the students. There is no charge concerning Perry Watson. II am not in a position to say definitively what did or did not happen, but we have no reason to be particularly concerned with Perry Watson at this time."
On any evidence being found that constituted those loans other than the general dollar amount ... "We were given a certain level of detail, but I can't say that we have an accounting for the full amount of money. The benefits came in cash payments and other forms as well."
On the NCAA's timetable following these sanctions ... "We agreed with the NCAA to begin a joint inquiry. So, instead of undertaking a self-report, which is the customary method, and then having them come back with the official letter of inquiry, which as you say is really a list of allegations, we worked on it together and completed it together. When the letter came, it was dated October 25 and as Bill said it was received on October 29. We are responding on November 7. The letter asked us respond by November 16, so we beat the deadline by more than a week and we are hoping to get scheduled for the soonest possible time. We are truncating the process. We are trying to get them to expedite things and they have been working with us expeditiously. Of course there are other schools in line that have their own infractions that need to be heard. The typical time frame is six to eight weeks after a hearing for a decision to be issued by the Infractions Committee, after the December or February meetings.
On the NCAA agreeing with self-imposed sanctions ... "I think it is fair to say that the record is mixed. In some instances the school's penalties were adopted by the Infractions Committee and in other cases they weren't. We looked at the ultimate result of the Infractions Committee and tried to determine what were appropriate sanctions."
Tommy Amaker, U-M Men's Basketball Head Coach
On the outcome of the case ... "Bill (Martin), our staff and Mary Sue Coleman have spent countless hours trying to bring closure this matter. It's disappointing for our current team, our seniors especially. I've been amazed at their maturity and how they've handled it. We had a team meeting last night and we were able to express to each other how we felt about it. Our kids are very strong in their convictions of wanting to do something very positive. They certainly look at this as an opportunity to show that we're an up-and-coming program. Our kids have made some strong and positive statements in that regard."
On the team's outlook towards the season knowing that there will be no postseason ... "We haven't changed our approach. Our kids are wonderful kids. They're disappointed and have every right to be. They're also very mature and realize that they came to the University for a variety of reasons. Today is one of those reasons, to stand firm, stand strong, and keep our heads held high and to represent this school the way they know how. That's what we've done and that's what we'll continue to do."
On what the current players are feeling today ... "Now there is some clear direction, we feel very good about it. I think our kids feel some relief, but also some anger and disappointment. They are relieved to know that we're moving forward and that we're going to get past it and do things right."
On the sanctions hurting the recruiting process ... "I think the way we have been successful thus far in recruiting speaks volumes about this institution, about the tradition and values that it has. That's one of the reasons that I'm so proud to be the head basketball coach at a time of need. The kids that have come on board didn't know exactly what was going to happen. Today, there is some direction to know that maybe things won't affect them in the future. They committed to us prior to any of this being known, I think it speaks volumes about their willingness to be part of a great institution."
On his thoughts of the upcoming NCAA sanctions ... "I'm confident in our leadership, in our advisors and our council. The reasons we've put forth here today could very well be a strong statement that we're taking care of our issues here. We're confident that things are going to turn out in the right way for the right reasons."
On having a part in creating the sanctions ... "It's not something you look forward to as a head coach at a great institution. You also know that you have to make some tough decisions and be a part of some difficult situations for the betterment of the institution. We're all in favor of what we've done and what we've decided for the best interests of this great school."
On coming to coach at Michigan knowing the difficult circumstances ... "Michigan stands for a lot. We're a small part of a great institution. We're trying to do our job to make sure that the basketball program lives up to the standards of this university. I'm still very proud to be here, regardless of what some of the circumstances may be."
On the feelings toward the four players and if they're welcome back to Michigan ... "There are certain decisions that are above the basketball coach. I am a basketball coach, first and foremost, and a teacher. I think you want to look at every opportunity to teach and what way can you teach and make situations better. Which way can you teach to make sure the younger kids understand So as a basketball coach and a teacher you relish the opportunities to teach and I'm anxious to see, as President Coleman said, with the passage of time how we find a way for the University of Michigan to teach."
On his emotions about all of the sanctions ... "I feel for our players. You feel a little bit of everything. You certainly have an understanding of what this institution is all about. You make decisions based on what's in the betterment of the institution, what's the best interest of the basketball program. Certainly, we've done that and I'm confident in our leadership and confident in the decisions that we've made that these are the right things to do."
On the emotions of the players ... "I can't tell you how impressed I was and am about the kids. We had a meeting last night and I made the announcement to our kids and certainly there was disappointment, frustration and anger but after you get through those normal initial emotions our kids were as resilient, as positive and as mature as anyone could imagine. I was really proud to see that unfold last night because they stood there and talked amongst themselves and with our staff about how they wanted to make this a terrific season. When you have seniors and kids like LaVell Blanchard speak up and say those kinds of things you're talking about being very proud of the kids that you're teaching and coaching."
On how this has affected him professionally ... "It's not something that you look forward to. We've all said that and we all would assume that but it's something that we have to deal with, something we have to get through and get beyond. We're in the process of doing that. I've felt all the emotions that President Coleman mentioned, as has our staff, our players and our administration. We certainly know that this institution is as good as anyone and certainly we're going to make sure that we always set those standards at a very high level for any department and any individual that happens to be here at the University of Michigan."
On the emotions of seeing the banners taken down ... "As a former player and coach you recognize the significance of hanging a banner. You recognize that that signals success, winning and pride. When you're talking about taking some of those types of penalties as a part of a sanction, as a player and a coach it tugs at your heart because you realize that's what you're playing for. You also realize that you're playing to do all those things in a certain manner. When you evaluate those things you bring all of those values into focus and we still believe that the things we have decided to do are the correct things."
On what the players said that made him proud of them ... "I think you can imagine what they said. I think you can imagine their frustration. Everyone this time of year in college basketball is very excited about what can happen this season for its team. Our team is no different. Now we've just been told that certain things will not be possibilities for our team but our kids from that point forward showed a great deal of maturity in focusing on what is possible for us. They looked at what can we still do. The first question that was asked of me was 'Coach, can we participate in the Big Ten Tournament' and I said yes we can. I knew right away that we were moving on right to the next phase of what can we do, what are the possibilities of this team at this time. That told me how mature they were and the heart and character we had in the locker room last night."
Contact: Bruce Madej (734) 763-4423
