BleedGopher
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http://www.freep.com/article/20120520/SPORTS06/205200570/Missing-memories
Minnesota
Final Four year: 1997. The Gophers lost to Kentucky in the national semifinals.
Wrongdoing: Use of ineligible players who had school work completed by school assistants. Then-coach Clem Haskins paid a basketball office manager $3,000 to write more than 400 papers for at least 20 players over a period of several years, ending in 1998. It's considered the largest academic fraud scandal in NCAA history.
Fallout: The Gophers vacated all 15 postseason games in 1994-98, including the 1997 Final Four run and Big Ten title. The NCAA cited a "lack of institutional control." The Big Ten hammered the Gophers, vacating all Minnesota games in 1993-99.
Bobby Jackson's Big Ten MVP and defensive player of the year awards from 1997 were removed. Jackson's number is not retired or hanging with the six photo banners in Williams Arena. His Big Ten honors also are not listed. Only the Chicago Tribune MVP award remains, because the NCAA and Big Ten do not control that.
"I was not the AD when all of this 'came down' but Minnesota removed all banners and all information in the media guides," outgoing athletic director Joel Maturi wrote in an e-mail. "I am not certain if there were or what happened to any trophies. Some teams have been recognized as a group and we have not precluded 'guilty' members from attending. It continues to be a sensitive issue, though less so with each passing year."
In the public sanctions report, there is no end date: "Further, any public reference to tournament performances won during this time shall be removed, including, but not limited to, athletics department stationery and banners displayed in public areas such as the arena in which the men's basketball team competes."
The banners removed from Williams Arena were 1997 Big Ten champions, '97 Final Four and the '98 NIT championship as well as yearly NCAA participant references in 1994-95 and the 1996 NIT. They are still held by the university in storage but are not for public view.
Go Gophers!!
Minnesota
Final Four year: 1997. The Gophers lost to Kentucky in the national semifinals.
Wrongdoing: Use of ineligible players who had school work completed by school assistants. Then-coach Clem Haskins paid a basketball office manager $3,000 to write more than 400 papers for at least 20 players over a period of several years, ending in 1998. It's considered the largest academic fraud scandal in NCAA history.
Fallout: The Gophers vacated all 15 postseason games in 1994-98, including the 1997 Final Four run and Big Ten title. The NCAA cited a "lack of institutional control." The Big Ten hammered the Gophers, vacating all Minnesota games in 1993-99.
Bobby Jackson's Big Ten MVP and defensive player of the year awards from 1997 were removed. Jackson's number is not retired or hanging with the six photo banners in Williams Arena. His Big Ten honors also are not listed. Only the Chicago Tribune MVP award remains, because the NCAA and Big Ten do not control that.
"I was not the AD when all of this 'came down' but Minnesota removed all banners and all information in the media guides," outgoing athletic director Joel Maturi wrote in an e-mail. "I am not certain if there were or what happened to any trophies. Some teams have been recognized as a group and we have not precluded 'guilty' members from attending. It continues to be a sensitive issue, though less so with each passing year."
In the public sanctions report, there is no end date: "Further, any public reference to tournament performances won during this time shall be removed, including, but not limited to, athletics department stationery and banners displayed in public areas such as the arena in which the men's basketball team competes."
The banners removed from Williams Arena were 1997 Big Ten champions, '97 Final Four and the '98 NIT championship as well as yearly NCAA participant references in 1994-95 and the 1996 NIT. They are still held by the university in storage but are not for public view.
Go Gophers!!
