Boise State football hit with sanctions

Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho

Boise State football coach Chris Petersen, in the wake of a series of NCAA violations, will have fewer scholarships to hand out in the next two years and less time on the practice field to prepare for tough season openers against Georgia this fall and Michigan State in 2012.

The sanctions already imposed on the Bronco football team are part of a broader penalty package put in place by university officials this week for men’s and women’s tennis and track and field after an NCAA inquiry identified nearly two dozen violations by coaches in those sports.

The NCAA said its inquiry, along with an internal investigation by Boise State, identified 22 infractions and an absence of institutional controls necessary to fully comply with rules governing collegiate athletic programs.

University officials say the penalties for Boise State’s high-profile football program and other sports, first reported by the Idaho Statesman, are part of its overall response to the NCAA investigation. The NCAA can impose even tougher sanctions against the university after its Committee on Infractions meets next month to review the Boise State case.

But Boise State administrators are confident the self-imposed penalties, which include a three-year probation period, and steps to bolster its compliance office, will satisfy the NCAA.

The university’s 1,500-page response to the NCAA details a series of “secondary” violations by football staff during a four-year period. During that time, coaches arranged for incoming players to get cheap transportation, meals and housing — in some cases nothing more than a couch at a current player’s apartment — during voluntary summer workouts. The report states 63 prospective players received those benefits, valued at less than $5,000.