RENO " Coaches and administrators at the University of Nevada are breathing a collective sigh of relief after investigators from the NCAA found no lack of institutional control and no gambling issues during their 10-month investigation.
Nevada athletic director Cary Groth and Dr. Jean Perry, faculty athletic rep, said they were informed last week of the NCAA's decision.
"Obviously our department is elated with the decision," Groth said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon at Legacy Hall. "You never know what's going to happen when somebody comes in and investigates your program. You don't know what's out there, but we had confidence in our program.
"We pride ourselves on our character and commitment in operating our athletics department with the highest level of integrity and complying with all the rules of the NCAA. We are thrilled with the findings of the NCAA's investigation that we have no lack of institutional control and no issues related to gambling."
There is still one step of the process left. Investigators will turn over their findings over to the NCAA's Committee on Infractions. Perry said that process could last a couple of months. Included in the investigator's report is Nevada's self-report on the alleged gambling charge.
The Associated Press contacted the NCAA in Indianapolis, and spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said that the organization doesn't comment on ongoing investigatiions. The NCAA considers this case ongoing until the infractions committee is finished.
It ends a tense 13-month period for the Nevada athletic department. It all started last August with women's soccer coach Terri Patraw being terminated just days before the season-opening match after allegedly agreeing to a new contract with Groth. Patraw later filed a whistleblower complaint against the university and lost her case in court.
Patraw claimed that she brought several violations within the athletic department to the attention of Groth, and was fired as a result of those complaints, according to the Associated Press. One of the things that Patraw claimed was that sports bets had been placed " in violation of NCAA rules " by golf coach Rich Merritt.
School officials conducted their own investigation of Merritt, who had provided free meals to athletes and exchanged a frequent flier airline ticket with an athlete.
Merritt was suspended for three matches by Groth at the end of the internal probe. The NCAA will determine whether Nevada faces any more sanctions beyond the self-imposed sanctions.
Perry indicated that the school self reports any violations. She said that some of the self-reported penalties the school suggests are stronger than what the NCAA or WAC would do.
"It's difficult to get through a year without a violation," Perry said.
Between athletes, coaches and boosters, there are a lot of things that the school has to watch out for.
Each year at booster luncheons, Nevada passes out a booklet with the dos and donts of dealing with student-athletes and recruiting. So many violations around the country happen because boosters give student-athletes money, buy them things or pay them for work not done.
Investigators from the NCAA, according to the Associated Press and Reno Gazette-Journal, went through Merritt's e-mail files in an effort to find links to gambling. Merritt eventually resigned in the spring of 2008.
"I've made some errors in judgment that the athletic department wasn't aware of which negatively impacted the program," Merritt said in a statement the school issued at the time.
Groth was asked the most serious corrective actions the school has taken since the investigation started.
"Well, there's been a change in the men's golf program, and that was done prior to the conclusion of this investigation," she said. "I would say personnel was the most serious."
Groth said Tuesday that she didn't anticipate any additional personnel changes at the school because of the investigation.