|
Monday, March 31 School presidents to meet Tuesday Associated Press |
||
The status of St. Bonaventure's troubled men's basketball program will be up for discussion when the Atlantic 10 Conference school presidents meet in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. What remains uncertain is whether the conference will take further action against the Bonnies since the A-10 presidents in early March stripped the team of six league victories and barred it from the season's playoffs for using an ineligible player. "St. Bonaventure's on the agenda -- that's all I know," A-10 spokesman Ray Cella said Monday. Cella added that while St. Bonaventure officials are scheduled to make a presentation at the semiannual meeting, it doesn't necessarily mean the presidents will be prepared to make a ruling. Expected to represent St. Bonaventure are William Swan, chairman of the school's board of trustees, and interim school president Rev. Dominic Monti. The conference could hold off on deciding whether to take further action until after April 15. That's when a St. Bonaventure-led committee investigating the basketball program is scheduled to submit its report to the school's trustees. The committee presented an initial report to the board on March 22. Details of the preliminary findings were not released to the public. St. Bonaventure spokesman David Ferguson declined to comment on the A-10 meeting. The meeting is the A-10's first opportunity to learn of what steps St. Bonaventure has taken since the conference presidents first imposed their sanctions. The Bonnies fell into turmoil soon after the school declared center Jamil Terrell ineligible for violating NCAA junior college transfer guidelines. Terrell joined the Bonnies last spring after two seasons at Coastal Georgia Community College in Brunswick, Ga., but was ruled ineligible because he earned a certificate in welding, not an associate's degree, at his former school. St. Bonaventure players responded by voting to boycott their final two games of the season. Days later, St. Bonaventure trustees unanimously requested and received school president Robert Wickenheiser's resignation after he took full responsibility for approving Terrell's transfer. The board also placed athletics director Gothard Lane, coach Jan van Breda Kolff and assistant coach Kort Wickenheiser -- Robert Wickenheiser's son -- on administrative leave, pending a review. The NCAA reserves the right to investigate the program and issue its own sanctions. |