Foul play
Poor judgment fuels teamÕs scandal
Seven players have confirmed it. A team has been torn apart by it. High-profile athletic officials have failed to effectively handle it.

Now, it’s time for the university to face the scandal that has resulted from it.

The players, including three starters from the 2001-02 women’s basketball team, confirmed Thursday that head coach Jeff Mittie discussed the allegations of credit card and identity fraud against teammate Tiffany Evans in a team meeting as early as late February. The meeting occurred just days before the Conference USA and NCAA tournaments.

Athletic Director Eric Hyman said Mittie’s attempts to reconcile the situation internally followed standard procedure.

But standard procedure isn’t always good enough.

Standard procedure makes it look like the athletic department withheld serious allegations from Campus Life and failed to act on them until after postseason play.

Hyman, Mittie and any other university officials involved in these poor decisions made over the past two months must be held accountable for their actions.

The university should act quickly and promptly to determine if there has been any wrongdoing. And it shouldn’t stop there: The situation calls for the development of a comprehensive university policy.

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