Dust
Settles After Abrupt End for Mens Hoops
by William Singer
After
coming to grips with the revelation that the Oberlin mens
basketball team had used an ineligible player all season, the College
has begun to react to the reality that the most successful season
in 10 years has ended without a single win.
College
President Nancy Dye explained that the decision to forfeit the season,
just as Oberlin had advanced to the semifinals of the North Coast
Athletic Conference tournament, was a matter of sportsmanship. Oberlin
had to forfeit the games because when you are found to have played
an ineligible player, the rule of the thumb is [that] you have to
forfeit every game that that player played in, at the very least.
Dye would not discuss facts surrounding the players eligibility,
citing respect for the students educational privacy, and is
now focused on correcting the mistake that led to this disaster.
We have to find out what happened here, why it happened, how
it happened, and set about putting changes into place that will
prevent it from happening again, she said.
And so Ive set up an investigation which will be chaired
by Scott McMillin, professor of English, and who also chairs the
General Faculty Committee on Athletics. The committee will include
several other faculty members, and also one of our longtime trustees
named Chip Pullman, Dye said. Mr. Pullman was a member of
the football team while an Oberlin student in the 1950s, and is
currently a preeminent lawyer in Columbus, according
to Dye.
When the investigation is completed, to the extent that it
is appropriate, certainly the findings will be made public,
Dye said. This should be done speedily
[and] by the end
of the semester.
A
front-page article in the Feb. 21 Chronicle Telegram identified
the ineligible player as sophomore Chris Ikpoh, who enrolled at
Oberlin last fall after transferring from the University of Chicago.
Ikpoh led the Yeomen in scoring and rebounding this season.
Dye stressed that Ikpoh has done nothing wrong, even while the controversy
centers on him. Basically, there is no question at this point
that the individual student athlete was ineligible
[But] he
bears no responsibility; he is utterly blameless, she said.
I have made it clear to the conference, and to the faculty,
and now more publicly, that the responsibility for this lies entirely
with Oberlin College. This was an institutional failure, and we
need to remedy whatever we learn to have caused it to happen,
Dye said.
The
specifics of that failure remain unclear, although apparently the
players academic eligibility was never conclusively verified
after he transferred schools. Mike Cavey, head mens basketball
coach, declined to elaborate on the exact circumstances surrounding
the forfeiture of the games. Members of the mens basketball
team referred inquiries on eligibility back to Coach Cavey.
An
assistant to Athletic Director Michael Muska cancelled an appointment
for an interview for this story, saying that Muska would not discuss
the basketball team.
Cavey, however, was willing to speak on the reaction of his players.
Everybody seems to be holding up really well, he said.
The initial shock seems to have worn off, and theyre
all about just getting going with post-season workouts and getting
ready for next year.
Dye does not expect the forfeiture to undermine Oberlins reputation
as an academic institution. Certainly, in the world of intercollegiate
athletics, we could not single out Oberlin as some sort of bad apple,
she said. This is an aberration for Oberlin, and its
being viewed that way.
Dye went on to state her conviction that athletics at Oberlin
should and can be a healthy and integral part of this College.
I dont believe that we have a serious conflict at Oberlin
between athletics and our educational mission, Dye said. I
have long believed, and continue to believe, that Oberlin should
make every effort to have a strong and competitive intercollegiate
athletics program; it should also have a strong intramural program;
it should have a strong club sports program.
Cavey was determined to find something positive to take away from
a season of highs and lows, both on and off the court.
Let me just say that its a terrible way to end the season,
Cavey said. But whatever happens, no one can take away the
nine wins that we had and our win over Ohio Wesleyan to put us into
the semis. It might go on paper as 0-25, but we were there, we know
we won those games, and no one can take that away from us.
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