Paul Dee's Words May Haunt UM
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – When the University of Southern California was hit with strong sanctions after the Reggie Bush-scandal, the head of the NCAA Committee on Infractions, Paul Dee, said "high profile players demand high-profile compliance."
But, if the allegations against the University of Miami are proven by the NCAA, Dee may go down with one of the biggest gaffes in college football history. The reason for this is Paul Dee was the athletic director at the University of Miami while Nevin Shapiro allegedly ran wild.
Thursday, the head of one of the most powerful conferences in the country took square aim at Dee's statement about USC.
"If the allegations prove true, the words irony and hypocrisy don't seem to go far enough," said Pac-12 Conference commissioner Larry Scott, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Scott continued saying if the Yahoo! Sport report is proven, it's "a real indictment of some of the problems that exist in college sports and college football and underscores the need for dramatic reform in rules, culture, and the enforcement process," according to the Times.
Scott has reason to be upset with the possibility of a double-standard. USC is one of the top teams in the reconstituted Pac-12. The school is ineligible for the inaugural championship and can't play in a bowl game due to the Reggie Bush sanctions.
Dee is no stranger to having his program on the wrong side of the NCAA rules. He was athletic director from 1993-2008 including the period when "the U" was at the center of one of the largest Pell Grant fraud scandals ever.
The Pell Grant fraud scandal in 1995 cost the school 24 scholarships, banned the Canes from a bowl game for one year and put the school on probation. Dee remained on the job and held a position on the Committee on Infractions for nine years, until 2010.
The committee has repeatedly sent schools to detention during Dee's reign. The Committee has gone after the University of Alabama three times during that time, including 2002 when the committee said it came the closest it ever has since SMU to giving the death penalty over the Albert Means-scandal.
