UH volleyball
admits violationThe school has sent a report
to the NCAA; punishment
could go as far as taking
away the men's national title
An internal investigation by the University of Hawaii has found that a member of the 2002 Hawaii men's volleyball team was in violation of NCAA rules.
University officials cannot comment on the nature of the violation. Due to privacy rights, neither the identity of the student nor the nature of the transgression can be revealed.
"On May 7, 2003, the University received notification from the NCAA regarding the eligibility of one of our men's volleyball players," UH athletic director Herman Frazier said in a statement.
"As a result, we have recently concluded an extensive investigation regarding the inquiry. Due to privacy issues, we cannot release the name of the player. Although the University's report to the NCAA concludes there has been a violation, it also states that the University and the men's volleyball coaching staff did not know and could not have known about it until the investigation was completed in June 2003. The report is being forwarded to the NCAA today. Until a decision has been reached by the NCAA, it would be premature to speculate or comment on any aspect of this matter."
Frazier was not available for further comment.
Hawaii coach Mike Wilton also declined comment except to confirm that the report had been sent to the NCAA.
"There has been an investigation and a report has been sent off," Wilton said. "What's going to happen? Who knows. That's all I can say.
"We here in the men's volleyball program want to do the right thing. If we're not doing that, we're not doing the right thing."
NCAA media relations director Kay Hawes would not discuss the case or the length of time the NCAA would need to make a ruling.
"We cannot comment on any individual case," Hawes said in a phone interview. "We really mean it when we say every case is different.
"As far as a timeline, every case is different, so we don't speculate how long an investigation might last. It depends on the facts of each particular investigation. We couldn't speculate on the length."
Once an inquiry is made, the university examines the NCAA by-laws to determine which rule was broken. If a rule was breached, the university conducts a factual investigation via interviews, background documents and checks. The NCAA is notified when it is concluded that a violation has occurred. UH forwarded the report along with suggested sanctions. The NCAA could accept UH's recommendations, levy another penalty or take no disciplinary action. The possible punishments could range from losing the national championship -- UH's only national men's title -- to a fine or no penalty.
The possibility of losing its national championship didn't sit well with current or former Warriors.
"That (violation) shocked me. They're not taking my ring, that's for sure," former libero Vernon Podlewski said. "They're not taking away my championship. I earned it straight out like anybody else. I worked my butt off to win a championship. I did and I earned it. They're not taking it away. Whoever's complaining, they should have won the thing."
Added Warriors outside hitter Jose Delgado in a telephone interview from Puerto Rico:
"They cleared me. I'm OK. There was a Puerto Rican national league. I didn't accept money.
"We know we're the national champs. That would be really, really sad (if the title was revoked). Nobody on our team is a professional. It's not our fault. ... We're not professional players. That's not our jobs. ... We don't want to get in trouble. We follow the rules. We know what we can and can't do. We want the best for our team."
UH Athletics
