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Schools for Scandal

Aired February 19, 2004 - 13:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Were sex and alcohol used as recruiting tools at the University of Colorado? Was a female football player verbally and physically abused by her male teammates? Regardless of the outcome of those investigations, the issue is much bigger than one school. Film director Spike Lee recently likened the NCAA to a pimp. And the cover story in today's "USA Today" says the scandal at CU is not isolated.
"USA Today's" sportswriter Erik Brady joins us from McLean, Virginia to talk about the problem. It looks much bigger than one school.

Erik, good to see you.

ERIK BRADY, "USA TODAY": Good afternoon. Nice to see you.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about the article. And as you get deeper into your piece, you do cite a number of other examples where this is definitely not a new situation when we talk about the scandal that's hitting CU. Talk about Alabama.

BRADY: Well, the University of Alabama was put on probation by the NCAA for players who brought strippers to campus in the late 1990s. There have been other cases that involved strippers, allegedly, being brought to campus.

But what makes the Colorado says different is that there was a prosecutor in Boulder, Colorado who has said, under oath, that she believes sex and alcohol have been used to recruit at Colorado.

PHILLIPS: We're talking about Mary Keenan, right?

BRADY: Yes, that's right.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about what she said and how this leads credence to this.

BRADY: Well, what she -- first of all, there was a -- federal lawsuits filed by three women in Colorado after an alleged sex party in 2001 that involved recruits. After the first one filed a lawsuit, she was put in -- you know what, I'm getting such an echo here, I can't...

PHILLIPS: You know what, you probably have mixed minus (ph) in your ear, and that's a problem. Maybe we can try and fix that. You know what, let's do this, we'll try and fix that mixed minus, Erik, we'll take a quick break. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, we're going to continue our interview now. Let's bring Eric Brady back in from "USA Today."

Erik, I hope we fixed the problem. How are you hearing me?

BRADY: We're good now, thank you.

PHILLIPS: Excellent.

We were talking about the story, and a number of situations from Alabama to Oregon to Denver, cases you reminded us about, where strippers and booze, alcohol, used in these recruiting parties. This is -- you know this is definitely not something new. Is this a part of a culture? Is this normal? Is this accepted? And now all of a sudden, every now and then, we just hear about it?

BRADY: Well, it's certainly not accepted on campus. The question is whether it's part of the culture and is used by schools in the sense that their players, who serve player hosts for the recruits, take players out. And in the case of Colorado, there have been allegations that the school, quote, didn't want to know, because it felt it needed a competitive edge against other schools who might have been doing the same thing. Now when you mention some of these other schools where these things might have taken place, or allegedly taken place, the schools have denied any knowledge of those thing.

And as I was mentioning before, in the case of Colorado, Mary Keenan, the Boulder district attorney, has said under sworn testimony that she believes there is a culture at Colorado, and she investigated cases in 1997 and in 2001 and believed that there was an expectation of sex at these parties by recruits.

PHILLIPS: All right, and you also talk about, in your article, you point out these coaches have a lot at stake. They make big salaries, and their livelihood is based on what type of high school players they can bring in to their college. So you know, where do you draw the line on how to bring those high school players in? Is there a policy? Does every school have a standard policy by NCAA? Does every school sort of make up their own policy? And do these policies specifically say no sex, alcohol, and wild parties for new recruits?

BRADY: Well, the NCAA is putting together a task force that is going to look into recruiting, and David Burst (ph), who is the chair of the task force, has said although they don't have specific rules against that, he really didn't think that those were necessary. The task force will make a report by the end of April, and it's possible that legislation in some form could be passed by August, which is very quick for the NCAA. It hasn't worked that fast on things in the past. Now what that legislation might be, I have no idea.

PHILLIPS: Could the NCAA actually add a rule in there about sex?

BRADY: Well, I guess that is what the task force is going to discuss and I -- it is possible. PHILLIPS: It's a whole new world now, isn't it, when it comes to recruiting and college and pro ball?

BRADY: Yes, you know, when you mentioned earlier the Spike Lee movie, "He Got Game," where sex was used to recruit a high school athlete, and that was fictional. And now the question is whether that's really been happening. And in the case of Colorado, there is sworn testimony alleging that that did take place.

PHILLIPS: And my final question, you also did a number of interviews talking about, OK, this is being addressed, it's come to the forefront, it's being focused on. However, this is a problem that's just going to continue to grow.

BRADY: Well, we did speak to some experts who said that, look, it's a problem in the culture, and what you have are schools that are competing against each other, and until you rein in the culture of recruiting, these and other problems, they feel, will continue to exist.

PHILLIPS: Erik Brady, we'll continue to read your stories, "USA Today," thanks so much.

BRADY: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 19, 2004 - 13:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Were sex and alcohol used as recruiting tools at the University of Colorado? Was a female football player verbally and physically abused by her male teammates? Regardless of the outcome of those investigations, the issue is much bigger than one school. Film director Spike Lee recently likened the NCAA to a pimp. And the cover story in today's "USA Today" says the scandal at CU is not isolated.
"USA Today's" sportswriter Erik Brady joins us from McLean, Virginia to talk about the problem. It looks much bigger than one school.

Erik, good to see you.

ERIK BRADY, "USA TODAY": Good afternoon. Nice to see you.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about the article. And as you get deeper into your piece, you do cite a number of other examples where this is definitely not a new situation when we talk about the scandal that's hitting CU. Talk about Alabama.

BRADY: Well, the University of Alabama was put on probation by the NCAA for players who brought strippers to campus in the late 1990s. There have been other cases that involved strippers, allegedly, being brought to campus.

But what makes the Colorado says different is that there was a prosecutor in Boulder, Colorado who has said, under oath, that she believes sex and alcohol have been used to recruit at Colorado.

PHILLIPS: We're talking about Mary Keenan, right?

BRADY: Yes, that's right.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about what she said and how this leads credence to this.

BRADY: Well, what she -- first of all, there was a -- federal lawsuits filed by three women in Colorado after an alleged sex party in 2001 that involved recruits. After the first one filed a lawsuit, she was put in -- you know what, I'm getting such an echo here, I can't...

PHILLIPS: You know what, you probably have mixed minus (ph) in your ear, and that's a problem. Maybe we can try and fix that. You know what, let's do this, we'll try and fix that mixed minus, Erik, we'll take a quick break. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, we're going to continue our interview now. Let's bring Eric Brady back in from "USA Today."

Erik, I hope we fixed the problem. How are you hearing me?

BRADY: We're good now, thank you.

PHILLIPS: Excellent.

We were talking about the story, and a number of situations from Alabama to Oregon to Denver, cases you reminded us about, where strippers and booze, alcohol, used in these recruiting parties. This is -- you know this is definitely not something new. Is this a part of a culture? Is this normal? Is this accepted? And now all of a sudden, every now and then, we just hear about it?

BRADY: Well, it's certainly not accepted on campus. The question is whether it's part of the culture and is used by schools in the sense that their players, who serve player hosts for the recruits, take players out. And in the case of Colorado, there have been allegations that the school, quote, didn't want to know, because it felt it needed a competitive edge against other schools who might have been doing the same thing. Now when you mention some of these other schools where these things might have taken place, or allegedly taken place, the schools have denied any knowledge of those thing.

And as I was mentioning before, in the case of Colorado, Mary Keenan, the Boulder district attorney, has said under sworn testimony that she believes there is a culture at Colorado, and she investigated cases in 1997 and in 2001 and believed that there was an expectation of sex at these parties by recruits.

PHILLIPS: All right, and you also talk about, in your article, you point out these coaches have a lot at stake. They make big salaries, and their livelihood is based on what type of high school players they can bring in to their college. So you know, where do you draw the line on how to bring those high school players in? Is there a policy? Does every school have a standard policy by NCAA? Does every school sort of make up their own policy? And do these policies specifically say no sex, alcohol, and wild parties for new recruits?

BRADY: Well, the NCAA is putting together a task force that is going to look into recruiting, and David Burst (ph), who is the chair of the task force, has said although they don't have specific rules against that, he really didn't think that those were necessary. The task force will make a report by the end of April, and it's possible that legislation in some form could be passed by August, which is very quick for the NCAA. It hasn't worked that fast on things in the past. Now what that legislation might be, I have no idea.

PHILLIPS: Could the NCAA actually add a rule in there about sex?

BRADY: Well, I guess that is what the task force is going to discuss and I -- it is possible. PHILLIPS: It's a whole new world now, isn't it, when it comes to recruiting and college and pro ball?

BRADY: Yes, you know, when you mentioned earlier the Spike Lee movie, "He Got Game," where sex was used to recruit a high school athlete, and that was fictional. And now the question is whether that's really been happening. And in the case of Colorado, there is sworn testimony alleging that that did take place.

PHILLIPS: And my final question, you also did a number of interviews talking about, OK, this is being addressed, it's come to the forefront, it's being focused on. However, this is a problem that's just going to continue to grow.

BRADY: Well, we did speak to some experts who said that, look, it's a problem in the culture, and what you have are schools that are competing against each other, and until you rein in the culture of recruiting, these and other problems, they feel, will continue to exist.

PHILLIPS: Erik Brady, we'll continue to read your stories, "USA Today," thanks so much.

BRADY: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com