A wave of scandals that began with the dismissal of University of Georgia basketball coach Jim Harrick in March and continues with revelations surrounding former Baylor basketball coach Dave Bliss may result in irreparable damage to the integrity of college coaches.

That has prompted an unprecedented response from the NCAA.

“The NCAA is treating this as if it were a crime wave,” said Myles Brand, organization’s president. “We are hiring more investigators and taking almost a law-and-order approach to misbehavior.

“In those cases (involving high-profile coaches), it makes me wonder whether the coaches, because of their marketability, compensation and fan adulation, have come to feel above the morality and societal norms that govern us all.”

The scandals of recent months have resulted in a crisis of confidence in college coaches and given parents of scholarship athletes reason to question the character of coaches entrusted with the responsibility of being role models, mentors and authority figures for their children.

The question is: Are the cases isolated or part of a trend?

‘Coaches are feeling hurt’

At stake is the integrity of college athletics, which never has been more in doubt.

Although Brand says he believes that the vast majority of coaches are proper role models and mentors, he is taking the same no-nonsense approach he did in 2000 when, as president of Indiana University, he removed Bob Knight after the basketball coach and icon known for his angry tirades violated a zero-tolerance policy.

The transgressions committed by basketball and football coaches since spring so far have been greeted mostly by silence from other coaches, conference commissioners and associations. Brand said that was understandable given the potential legal ramifications of speaking out.

“It’s a litigious society,” he said.

But “as a group, coaches are feeling hurt and harm. And coaches, as a group, have to stand up and say this is not acceptable.”

There is a feeling among some observers, Brand included, that a few coaches may believe that their celebrity and success insulates them, that they are not bound by a code of ethics, such as the one subscribed to by the American Football Coaches Assn.

Some of their behavior may be fueled by money. In 2001, 30 football and basketball coaches earned more than $1 million a year each, according to the Knight Commission, formed in 1989 to recommend changes for improving the integrity of college athletics.

The ‘mother’ questions

Brand and others say parents need to be more diligent when their children receive scholarship offers. They should ask universities about graduation rates for athletes, oversight of the athletic department by the university president, the kind of courses athletes take and the coach’s track record for compliance.

Former Kansas University basketball assistant Neil Dougherty, now head coach at Texas Christian, said parents of incoming scholarship athletes should talk to the parents of athletes already on the team.

“Families don’t seem to ask the questions I think maybe they should,” he said. “What they ask is often more, ‘Is my son going to play, or is he going to start?'”

What they should ask, he said, are the “mother” questions.

“Most of the moms have questions that pertain to the general care of their child, rather than, ‘Will he be the next star?'” Dougherty said.

Seeking answers

Bill Friday, former president of the University of North Carolina and now chairman of the Knight Commission, said surveys found that more than 50 percent of universities in Division I-A were placed on probation or otherwise censored or disciplined in the 1980s and ’90s.

Coaches often say they are unaware of improper inducements to athletes, which are typically made by overzealous boosters and alumni.

“There’s so much (cheating) going on, the NCAA is always going to be a step or two behind,” said Kansas University junior Keith Langford. “Nobody has any total honesty to the rules. It’s on a national scale.”

KU coach Bill Self says not all coaches need to be called out.

“You hear about all the bad stuff, breaking NCAA rules, things like this. Basically who is getting nailed?” Self asked. “Michigan is getting nailed over $600,000. There’s not too many schools out there not taking care of their business and doing it right.

“I do think this … there are a lot of ways you (as a coach) could certainly mess up a situation. You could have bad coaches, recruit bad players, have guys who don’t take care of business off the court.”

Self said it has become more difficult to truly get to know players because of contact limitations in recruiting. Still, it is possible for a program to stay clean, he indicated.

“One way I feel it is totally avoidable is if you have a great compliance program in place,” Self said. “You can’t legislate integrity, but you can legislate doing it the right way, at least by paper and intent and those things.”

Some say a way to avoid scandal is to pay the players.

“Should they be compensated?” Self said. “I don’t think it’s feasible, but, yes they should. I think it’s one of those deals you say they should but there’s no way it can happen.

“You have so many scholarship athletes on campus, give all those scholarship athletes money and it would be astronomical dollars. It’d make the CBS television contract shrink immensely. I don’t think it’s financially feasible for schools.”

The Journal-World contributed to this story