Calling the penalties levied by the NCAA "tolerable," California athletic director John Kasser said he was ready to see the men's basketball program move on.
Three years' probation, the loss of two scholarships and a ban from postseason play next season "probably is appropriate to the violation," Kasser said Thursday after the NCAA punished Cal for former coach Todd Bozeman's payments to the parents of a former point guard.Bozeman, forced to resign last August, admitted to the NCAA Committee on Infractions that he agreed to pay Jelani Gardner's family $15,000 each year he played for the Bears.
Gardner, who apparently was not aware of the $30,000 paid to his family in 1994-96, transferred to Pepperdine after his sophomore year. His family then went to the NCAA and presented evidence of the payments.
"This is one of the most serious infractions we've seen in a long time," said David Swank, a law professor at the University of Oklahoma who chaired the six-member panel looking into the infractions.
The NCAA banned the Bears from postseason play next season, reduced Cal's scholarships by two for the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons, and forced the school to retroactively forfeit 28 victories in the 1994-95 and 1995-96.
"The number of violations in this case are actually quite limited, but it is one of the most serious cases this committee has considered in recent years," Swank said. "(It involved) significant cash payments to the parents of a student-athlete by the head coach."
Kasser said the university did all it could to investigate and take action against Bozeman once officials learned of the payments.
"I'm glad (the Gardners) did go to the NCAA," Kasser said during a news conference Thursday. "I'm glad that we got the bottom of this situation so that we could deal with it . . . and get on with our basketball program."
Bozeman, who is not currently coaching, would have to appear before the Committee on Infractions - and face possible limitations on his employment - if he applies for an athletically related job at an NCAA school in the next eight years.
That is the fourth-longest period ever imposed by the NCAA on a coach.
Swank said Bozeman "provided false and misleading information to the committee and to the university" throughout most of the probe before finally admitting his role 10 days before a June 1 NCAA hearing into the case.
Bozeman was making payments to the Gardner family at the same time he knew the NCAA was investigating Cal's recruitment of Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who left the Bears after one season to play for the Vancouver Grizzlies.
"This is the largest amount of money that I can recall in any of the cases we've handled, by far. This is also one of the few where the head coach has been involved," said Swank, who has been on the committee for seven years. "He was making these payments at the same time he was involved in the hearing in the other case."
Swank said the money paid to the Gardners came from Bozeman himself, and was delivered through friends and intermediaries.
"The coach admitted it was his money. He said he was well paid and he used it for that purpose," Swank said.
Though the university has to accept responsibility for the violations, Swank said the main blame lies with Bozeman.
"This is a case in which the coach intentionally went out and committed these violations. This is not something the university could have gone out and stopped," Swank said in a conference call from NCAA headquarters in Overland Park, Kan.
In addition to the NCAA penalties, California agreed to return 90 percent of its share of revenue from the 1996 NCAA basketball tournament - about $54,000 - to the NCAA.
In a prepared statement from his home in Maryland, Bozeman apologized for his actions and thanked the NCAA for giving him a chance to coach again.
"While head men's basketball coach at Cal, I committed several violations of NCAA legislation in connection with the recruitment of one student-athlete," said Bozeman, who led the Bears to a 63-35 record in 31/2 years. "These violations were the result of a serious mistake in judgment on my part."