Alabama State University was handed down severe sanctions as a result of numerous violations dating back to the tenure of former head coach and recently-hired Stillman College head coach L.C. Cole.
The violations include fraudulent grade changes, unauthorized workouts and financial aid awards for ineligible players.
The Hornets athletic program must serve a five-year probation, a ban on postseason football play in 2009, a reduction in recruiting activities, a reduction in football scholarships, and the forfeiture of all victories in 2000 and 2001, including the 2001 SWAC championship. Stillman college also has been hit with a two-year show cause order for Cole, which means it has to justify it’s reasoning for hiring him and must show strict plans on how to prevent similar violations of NCAA regulations.
I have already said that Stillman would not benefit from hiring L.C. Cole as head coach, and now, they are under as much scrutiny as Alabama State will be. For Alabama State, it can be argued that Reggie Barlow now has even more of a pass at head coach than originally thought, because he will be heading a severely depleted football program going into the next two-to-four seasons.
In either case, it will be a long road back to relevance for the Alabama State Hornets football program. We’ll have more insight and analysis as information is made available.
Rough Road Ahead for Holland at Alabama State | HBCU Sports Blog 11:23 am on December 23, 2008 Permalink
[...] the Alabama State job is going to be among the toughest in all of college sports. Behind her is a history of violations and a lack of institutional control. Heck, just a few months ago, folks were fighting over the name [...]