Fab Five Payment Scandal
 
U-M announces conclusion of Ed Martin investigation, self-imposes sanctions

November 11, 2002


By Julie Peterson
Office of the Vice President for Communications
 

The University has announced the conclusion of its investigation into the men’s basketball program and improper monetary loans made by retired autoworker Ed Martin to four U-M players.

In a Nov. 7 press conference, President Mary Sue Coleman confirmed that a meeting on July 26, between attorneys representing the University and attorneys representing Ed Martin, detailed $616,000 in loans made by Martin to basketball players Chris Webber, Robert Traylor, Maurice Taylor and Louis Bullock, in violation of NCAA rules. The interview with Ed Martin’s attorneys was made possible by a federal indictment of Martin and his subsequent plea agreement.

“There is no excuse for what happened. It was wrong, plain and simple,” Coleman said. “We have let down all who believe that the University of Michigan should stand for the best in college athletics. We have disappointed our students, our faculty, our alumni and our fans. This is a day of great shame for the University.

“I am determined that nothing like this will ever happen again at Michigan,” she said. “Let me say loud and clear: Integrity is our top priority.”

In a report submitted to the NCAA, the University detailed the findings of its investigation—the third in six years—and outlined corrective actions it already has taken as well as sanctions it will impose on the basketball program.

The self-imposed sanctions include:

• Forfeiting all games won while the four players were ineligible, including the 1992 and 1993 Final Fours, the entire 1992–93 season, and all the seasons from fall 1995 through spring of 1999. The University has removed four championship banners that were hanging in Crisler Arena, and will excise mention of any victories from all programs and written materials

• Repaying to the NCAA about $450,000 the University received for postseason play with those ineligible players

• Declaring the men’s basketball team ineligible to participate in the 2003 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament, as well as the 2003 National Invitational Tournament

• Placing the basketball program on probation for two years, during which time the president will supervise detailed reports on compliance to be made to the NCAA
Athletic Director Bill Martin said the current investigation, conducted jointly with the NCAA, involved additional interviews with former Athletic Department staff, coaches and assistant coaches.

“Despite our best efforts, we were not able to substantiate the allegations of loans to the four players until the federal government got involved,” Martin said. Nevertheless, he said, the University did a number of things over the years to strengthen compliance with NCAA rules.

Judy Van Horn, whom Martin described as “one of the most widely respected compliance professionals in the country,” was hired in 2001. Martin elevated her position to associate director of athletics and upgraded her staff to include three full-time staff and two interns focused on compliance.

“Judy’s voice is very, very important in our department,” Martin said.

Other actions he listed were:

• Revising the policy on complimentary tickets

• Limiting access to the tunnel area of Crisler and to the locker room

• Developing an intensive education program on NCAA rules for players and staff

• Careful tracking of student-athletes’ automobiles

• Requiring completion of written tests and signed verification from student-athletes on

booster rules and extra benefits.

• Regular outreach by compliance staff to booster groups and local businesses.

None of the current men’s basketball coaches, staff and players was at the University during any of the time periods when the contact between Ed Martin and the players was occurred.

“I believe that my job as athletic director is to hire coaches of honor and integrity, who can win at the national level the right way, and who can recruit student-athletes who graduate,” Martin said. “I see the results of this work in Coach Tommy Amaker. When I see the way he runs his program and the high standards he sets on and off the court, I know that our basketball program is in the best hands.”

Amaker said, “It’s good that we are finally able to bring this process to a close. I am focused on the future of this basketball program. The Michigan basketball coaches and players are all committed to building a program that lives up to the high expectations that have been set for us.”

Martin said the University will submit its report to the NCAA, and will then be scheduled to appear in a hearing before the NCAA Infractions Committee. No date has yet been set for that hearing.

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Michigan investigation timeline

 

Friday, May 9, 2003

 

  • Feb. 17, 1996: Michigan basketball star Maurice Taylor totals a leased Ford Explorer on M-14 at about 5 a.m. while returning from a hotel party in Detroit with four teammates and prospect Mateen Cleaves, who is on an official recruiting visit. Teammate Robert Traylor breaks his right arm in the crash, but Cleaves and Wolverines Taylor, Louis Bullock, Willie Mitchell and Ron Oliver are unscathed.

     

  • March 11, 1996: The NCAA and Big Ten inform Michigan they are investigating who paid for Taylor's Explorer and other cars driven by men's basketball players.

     

  • June 27, 1996: Michigan reports to the NCAA that its investigation finds no rules violations in regards to athletes' cars or recruiting inducements.

     

  • August 1996: The NCAA informs Michigan it has additional questions about the June 27 report and is investigating anonymous allegations about booster involvement with players.

     

  • February 1997: Michigan sends a second report to the NCAA maintaining the players had not violated any rules.

     

  • March 4, 1997: Michigan sends a third report to the NCAA admitting guilt in several minor violations. Ed Martin refuses to speak to Michigan as part of the investigation and the university bans him from all contact with the basketball program.

     

  • March 13, 1997: A published report citing unnamed sources claims Martin gave cash to several unidentified Michigan players for years, hiding the money in cake boxes and funneling it through girlfriends.

     

  • March 18, 1997: Michigan announces it has hired the Kansas law firm of Bond, Schoeneck and King to investigate the slew of accusations against the basketball program.

     

  • April 4, 1997: Michigan releases records showing Martin received complimentary tickets to at least 30 games through Fisher and his coaching staff. In one instance, Fisher writes on a request "please put Willie Mitchell, Dennis Archer and Ed Martin together 3-4 rows up." Mitchell is a Michigan recruiting target at the time; Archer is the son of the mayor of Detroit.

     

  • May 25, 1997: Transcripts released by Michigan show Fisher told investigators he didn't ban Martin from the program even after catching him trying to pay for players' apartment lease and airline tickets because "I didn't think that this was a guy that was detrimental," and "If you don't network with a lot of people you can find yourself never able to recruit certain areas."

     

  • Oct. 9, 1997: The Kansas law firm hired by Michigan issues a 250-page report revealing no additional NCAA violations. It does reveal the Michigan coaching staff secured Martin hotel rooms at the 1992 and 1993 Final Fours and that head coach Steve Fisher forged his assistant coaches' initials on complimentary ticket requests for Martin. The report also uncovers that Martin was on Chris Webber's apartment lease in Ann Arbor as an authorized occupant and that an apartment complex manager, Tammi McCausland, remembers Martin paying the rent with his own personal checks. Report concludes "it's more likely than not" that Martin gave money to Webber.

     

  • Oct. 11, 1997: Athletic Director Tom Goss fires Fisher.

     

  • Oct. 24, 1997: Goss names Michigan assistant coach Brian Ellerbe interim head coach.

     

  • Dec. 20, 1997: The NCAA informs Michigan it has accepted the school's internal investigation's finding of three secondary violations relating to Ed Martin. It gives Goss until Jan. 31 to respond with suggested penalties.

     

  • May 19, 1998: The NCAA announces it is accepting Michigan's suggested penalties for the three secondary violations, which included a reduction by two in the number of paid recruiting trips to campus by prospects, tightening access to the area outside the Michigan locker room and complimentary tickets and NCAA rules education for the coaching staff. Michigan avoids the more serious penalties of probation, a television ban and/or a postseason ban.

     

  • April 1999: FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents raid Ed Martin's home, 10 other residences and an office. They seize more than $150,000 in cash.

     

  • June 1999: The FBI interviews several former Michigan players for a second time.

     

  • August 1999: Sources tell The Ann Arbor News that former Michigan guard Louis Bullock accepted more than $50,000 from Martin, including money after Martin was banned from the program in March 1997.

     

  • May 2000: Martin backs out of a plea agreement because of a clause requiring him to reveal his dealings with former Michigan players.

     

  • March 13, 2001: Basketball coach Brian Ellerbe is fired.

     

  • March 28, 2001: Michigan hires Seton Hall coach Tommy Amaker to lead the basketball program.

     

  • March 21, 2002: Eddie L. Martin is charged with money laundering in a 29-page federal indictment. The charges detail how Martin gave $616,000 to players Chris Webber, Robert Traylor, Maurice Taylor and Louis Bullock over a series of years.

     

  • April 2002: Clarence Malvo, who said he took bets and paid off wagers for Martin for three years, pleads guilty to lying before a federal grand jury. He could face six months to a year in prison when he is sentenced July 9.

     

  • May 28, 2002: Martin pleads guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. He faces 30-37 months in prison under his plea agreement. As part of the plea, Martin agreed to cooperate with the government and the University of Michigan in their investigations.

     

  • Nov. 7, 2002: Michigan announces several self-imposed sanctions in the wake of the Ed Martin scandal. Michigan banned the basketball team from any postseason play in 2002-03, forfeited 113 victories from the 1990s and repaid the NCAA more than $450,000 for money earned during Final Four appearances in the 1990s. Michigan also took down banners in Crisler Arena from the 1992 and 1993 Final Fours, the 1997 National Invitation Tournament and the 1998 Big Ten Tournament.

     

  • Feb. 14, 2003: Eddie L. Martin dies at age 69. Earlier in the day, Michigan officials, including school president Mary Sue Coleman, met with members of the NCAA Infractions Committee for more than four hours in Coral Gables, Fla.

     

  • May 8, 2003: NCAA Infractions Committee calls cash scandal the largest in NCAA history, and hands out additional sanctions, including a second year's postseason ban, four years of probation and reduction of one scholarship for each of four years. Committee chairman Tom Yeager calls the scandal "one of the most egregious violations of NCAA laws in the history of the (NCAA) organization." Michigan submits a request to appeal the postseason ban, citing an NCAA bylaw that states current student-athletes should not have to suffer for past wrongdoings of others no longer affiliated with the program.



     

     

    © 2003 Ann Arbor News. Used with permission

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    Report: Michigan Basketball Tourney Ban Lifted

    Michigan Wins Appeal for Participation in `04 NCAA Tournament

     

    Sept 25, 2003

     

    ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - The Michigan basketball team has won its appeal and will be eligible to play in the 2004 NCAA tournament, according to a newspaper report.

     

    The school has been informed that its appeal of the NCAA's postseason ban was successful, a person at the university familiar with the situation told the Detroit Free Press for a Thursday story.

     

    An announcement was expected to be made Thursday.

     

    Michigan spokesman Bruce Madej declined comment. Coach Tommy Amaker, athletic director Bill Martin and NCAA spokeswoman Kay Hawes did not immediately return phone messages.

     

    The decision was made by the NCAA's infractions appeals committee, which overturned the postseason-related portion of the infractions committee's May ruling, the newspaper said.

     

    Michigan's successful appeal concludes all NCAA procedures regarding the scandal involving Ed Martin, the Free Press said.

     

    Martin, who died earlier this year, had been accused of making illicit cash payments totaling $616,000 to former players Chris Webber, Maurice Taylor, Louis Bullock and Robert Traylor.

     

    The ban on participation in the NCAA tournament and National Invitation Tournament was the only NCAA sanction that Michigan appealed. Other sanctions, including four years of probation and the loss of one scholarship in each of four seasons, remain in effect.

     

    Michigan had its best season in five years in 2002-03, going 17-13 overall, 10-6 in the Big Ten and earning a first-round bye in the conference tournament. The 2003-04 Wolverines are expected to be contend for an NCAA tournament berth.

     

    Michigan was counting on an NCAA guideline that current athletes and coaches should not be excessively punished for the acts of their predecessors.