For athletes, coaches should be a voice of reason. However, this voice has been muffled over the past year by some college coaches that athletes have grown to trust.
Most recently, University of Washington football coach Rick Neuheisel has been investigated by the NCAA for his participation in a neighborhood college basketball pool that reportedly netted him $20,000 during the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
While no state law was broken, NCAA rules forbid gambling on college sports by its members.
The timing couldn't be worse for the Huskies, a team many experts are projecting to finish atop the Pac-10. Unfortunately for Washington, the controversy has taken the attention away from the potential winning season and put it squarely on Neuheisel's back.
The NCAA rules manual clearly specifies that coaches, staff members and athletes cannot "solicit or accept a bet on any intercollegiate competition for any item (e.g., cash, shirt, dinner) that has tangible value."
If this were the typical $10 or $20 bet that everyone and their roommate wagers in hopes to make a quick buck off of March Madness, no one would mind. But Slick Rick bet $5,000 on Maryland in his neighborhood auction-style pool.
This isn't the first time Neuheisel, has gotten mixed up with rules violations. In April 2002, the Univeristy of Colorado reported that it was charged with multiple violations during Neuheisel's coaching tenure from 1995-99.
And Neuheisel isn't the only coach to cross the line between mentor and menace.
Former Alabama football coach Mike Price recently lost his job for a night of strippers and a maxed-out room service bill. Former Iowa State basketball coach Larry Eustachy was fired after photos were taken of him drinking beer and kissing multiple college-aged girls at parties in Kansas and Missouri.
Neuheisel's checkered past and the severity of this violation will land him in hot water with both the NCAA and his employers, present and future.
Surely this head coach with winning on his mind and a Rose Bowl title under his belt won't have a problem landing on his feet, right?
Don't bet on it.
Reach the reporter at jeffrey.hoodzow@asu.edu.
