Wisc. Recruiting Violations Reported

Friday, January 19th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MADISON, Wis. (AP) â€” Several Wisconsin recruits were among the beneficiaries of more than $23,000 in unadvertised discounts from a local shoe store, the Wisconsin State Journal reported Friday.

The newspaper filed a public record lawsuit to obtain the university's records on its internal investigation into special discounts 121 Badgers athletes received from The Shoe Box.

They had to repay the discounts by making a donation to charity, and some were ordered to perform community service.

Three basketball players, including two from Wisconsin's Final Four team, were suspended for the first eight games of this season. In August, 26 football players received suspensions of 1-to-3 games, and a women's soccer player was suspended for two games.

The reports sent to the NCAA in August were the first time the university acknowledged the involvement of recruits who had signed to play for the Badgers and were living on campus before school started. That could violate NCAA rules barring teams' prospects from obtaining special benefits.

Citing a federal privacy law, the university omitted information that mentioned specific athletes, though names and punishments were announced last fall.

John Dowling, senior university legal counsel, told the State Journal the findings on recruits probably will be included in the university's final report to the NCAA.

``I don't think we've ever been able to confirm that any recruit has been taken to The Shoe Box as part of an official (recruiting) visit,'' Dowling said.

He said he wasn't sure how the recruits learned about the unadvertised discounts.

The school is also compiling information on whether its officials knew or should have known of the discounts, which could lead to NCAA sanctions for the university.

The university's probe began in July in response to a State Journal investigation.