University president says things are getting better

By TIM KORTE

AP Sports Writer

SEATTLE (AP) — First came Rick Neuheisel's gambling. Soon, it was evident he wasn't the only Washington athletic department employee filling out NCAA basketball brackets.

Later headlines centered on a softball team physician accused of doling out painkillers like candy. Not long after that, the university fired softball coach Teresa Wilson.

The Washington Huskies have played sports since last summer against the backdrop of a Pac-10 gambling investigation and, later, an NCAA citation for lack of institutional control.

”My brief tenure as president of the University of Washington has been marked by some unusual problems,” Lee Huntsman said Tuesday as he gave a progress report on several thorny issues.

Huntsman offered hope for weary Huskies fans, outlining a report from an outside agency that recommended improvements for the office that ensures compliance with Pac-10 and NCAA rules.

He also said two respected administrators — Tulsa president Bob Lawless and former NCAA president and ACC chairman Gene Corrigan — will review Washington athletics as part of the school's NCAA recertification process.

”We are well on the road to fixing things,” Huntsman said.

He briefed reporters on the search for a new athletic director. Barbara Hedges, who held the job since 1991, retired in January while controversy swirled around the department.

Though she was praised for her fund-raising and organizational skills, a report released Tuesday on the softball program indicated Hedges knew or should have known Dr. William Scheyer endangered student athletes.

Hedges issued a statement through the university, saying she always was concerned with the health and well-being of Washington athletes and didn't know they ”were subjected to questionable or unacceptable medical practices.

”Had I known otherwise, I would have taken every measure at my disposal to end these troublesome practices,” she said.

The report also implicated Wilson and others, painting an alarming picture in saying Scheyer and former team trainer Craig Moriwaki routinely handed out painkillers and narcotics to players before games and practices.

Players gave Scheyer nicknames: ”Dr. Feel Good” and ”The Candy Man.”

”The welfare of our student athletes is a fundamental responsibility,” Huntsman said. ”We failed, and this is deeply troubling and painful.”

Several players said they once saw an overly medicated player stumble into Wilson's arms, which the report cited as evidence that Wilson knew or should have known about the problems.

Wilson, who sued the school over her firing this week, denied in the report that the incident occurred. Through her lawyer, she denied accusations that she controlled her players through fear and intimidation.

Scheyer's lawyer denied his client did anything improper.

Efforts to reach Moriwaki at his last known job in Hawaii were unsuccessful.

Huntsman acknowledged the array of high-profile problems. He blamed those issues on the ”major failures of individuals.”

That's the heart of Washington's defense to the NCAA's institutional control allegation. The school faces a June 11 hearing, and Huntsman believes NCAA officials can be persuaded to drop the charge.

University officials argued that their swift action to fire Neuheisel demonstrated an appropriate response. Earlier this year, the Pac-10 dropped a ”failure to monitor” allegation, which mirrored the NCAA charge.

”He should have known that wagering thousands of dollars in a basketball pool … is prohibited by the letter and spirit of NCAA Bylaw 10.3,” the school said in its response to the NCAA.

Neuheisel's lawyer also responded to the NCAA allegations, saying Washington's compliance office twice issued interpretations of bylaw 10.3 — both authorizing gambling in ”March Madness” pools.

The compliance director, who later resigned, was wrong in her interpretation, school officials have said.

The gambling investigation opened after Neuheisel was fired as football coach last summer. He acknowledged his high-stakes gambling on NCAA tournament games but claims the memos gave him permission.

A probe found other staffers, including the former compliance officer and several football assistants, filled out $5 NCAA bracket pools.

”Fifteen other employees of the athletic department, including the head of the compliance office, participated in such pools. Yet only Rick Neuheisel has been asked to appear before the NCAA,” Neuheisel's response said.