Is this the man to contact (RE Lucca)?

**kentkel** · 11-01-2007, 12:23 AM

Todd Leyden - President of the NCAA Eligibility Center. I have been trying to do some internet digging to identify individuals who may have been involved with the Lucca decision. I found a couple articles that lead me to believe that the NCAA Clearinghouse is working with the Eligibility Center. Here's one of the links: EligibilityCenter

Earlier this week, the NCAA clearinghouse website was "under construction" and when I linked to the clearinghouse site today, I was taken to the Eligibility Center instead. I have been thinking about how the "name universities" seem to get away with so much and the lesser-known universities are punished more severely. Lucca gets a totally unfair verdict, and Kelvin Sampson can be a repeat offender and all he gets is a "slap" on the wrist. I found it quite curious that Mr. Brand has ties to Indiana U (Presidency & his wife is a faculty member), and Leyden has been involved with Indiana U, and seems to be active in other Indiana state organizations as well. I wonder if it's just a coincidence that Sampson escaped severe punishment? Anyway, another name to possibly consider in connection with this "mess" is Bill Saum - Director of Amateurism Certification (however, I have no idea what his job description is). I still am digging around but, for now, here is Todd Leyden's e-mail: tleyden@ncaa.org

**Kyle** · 11-01-2007, 12:26 AM

Good work, keep digging. I would throw some rep your way, but I seem to have exhausted my quota for today.

**kentkel** · 11-01-2007, 12:38 AM

Originally Posted by Kyle

Good work, keep digging. I would throw some rep your way, but I seem to have exhausted my quota for today.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I did also find the following link that provides a couple scenarios about involvement with professional teams. On that page I found the following names and e-mail addresses (listed below):
Link (pdf file): AmateurismNCAA

You may contact an NCAA amateurism certification staff
member by phone at 317/223-0700 or by e-mail:

Staff Member / E-mail

Mike DeCesare

mdecesare@ncaa.org

Jennifer Henderson

jhenderson@ncaa.org

Dan Kapsalis

dkapsalis@ncaa.org

Leigh Ann Kennedy

lkennedy@ncaa.org

Matt Marz

mmarz@ncaa.org

Jobrina Perez

jperez@ncaa.org

Natalie Rogers

nrogers@ncaa.org

Bill Saum

bsaum@ncaa.org

Ashley Thornburg

athornburg@ncaa.org

Stephen Webb

swebb@ncaa.org

**4VR4CY** · 11-01-2007, 06:40 AM

Got the rep taken care of for you Kyle.

**StLouisClone** · 11-01-2007, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by kentkel

You may contact an NCAA amateurism certification staff
member by phone at 317/223-0700 or by e-mail:
Staff Member / E-mail

Mike DeCesare

mdecesare@ncaa.org

Jennifer Henderson
jhenderson@ncaa.org

Dan Kapsalis
dkapsalis@ncaa.org

Leigh Ann Kennedy
lkennedy@ncaa.org

Matt Marz
mmarz@ncaa.org

Jobrina Perez
jperez@ncaa.org

Natalie Rogers
nrogers@ncaa.org

Bill Saum
bsaum@ncaa.org

Ashley Thornburg
athornburg@ncaa.org

Stephen Webb
swebb@ncaa.org

I noticed the phone number. I immediately thought about calling it to see if I could sweet talk one of the staff members into helping me understand the rationale behind the NCAA's decision (since the NCAA hasn't commented publicly yet and the season starts tonight). Then I thought better of it since I'm just a fan and ISU has a staff to handle these things. Let's hope JP and his staff are calling this phone number every day to get more information and ask some tough questions (such as why Dogus Balbay still gets to play for the University of Texas).

Now if the NCAA rejects ISU's appeal and refuses to offer a reasonable explanation, then let's ALL call this number and scream our heads off!

**brianhos** · 11-01-2007, 01:01 PM

ISU will not be granted an appeal hearing for a long time. This matter is over folks.

**psycln11** · 11-01-2007, 01:05 PM

According to this...

Staiger Ineligible According To NCAA - Iowa State University Athletics Official Web Site - www.CYCLONES.com - Iowa State Cyclones Sports

These are the people making the decision on Lucca, The Division I Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee...

COMMITTEE SELECTION LINKS: A JSP APPLICATION

**Knownothing** · 11-01-2007, 01:08 PM

I like how the big 12 has no members on the reinstatement committee. Yet the big 10 has one. No wonder Kelvin Sampson never serves time. No wonder OU was penalized and not Indiana. Maybe Gmac can call this sheahon Zenger from the Missouri Valley conference. He might know her from his old UNI days.

**psycln11** · 11-01-2007, 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by Knownothing

I like how the big 12 has no members on the reinstatement committee. Yet the big 10 has one. No wonder Kelvin Sampson never serves time. No wonder OU was penalized and not Indiana. Maybe Gmac can call this sheahon Zenger from the Missouri Valley conference. He might know her from his old UNI days.

This is just the reinstatement committee...not the infractions committee

The NCAA has several committees with different roles.

NCAA - National Collegiate Athletic Association

You must know nothing!!!

**Llama006** · 11-01-2007, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by kentkel

Todd Leyden - President of the NCAA Eligibility Center. I have been trying to do some internet digging to identify individuals who may have been involved with the Lucca decision. I found a couple articles that lead me to believe that the NCAA Clearinghouse is working with the Eligibility Center. Here's one of the links: EligibilityCenter

Earlier this week, the NCAA clearinghouse website was "under construction" and when I linked to the clearinghouse site today, I was taken to the Eligibility Center instead. I have been thinking about how the "name universities" seem to get away with so much and the lesser-known universities are punished more severely. Lucca gets a totally unfair verdict, and Kelvin Sampson can be a repeat offender and all he gets is a "slap" on the wrist. I found it quite curious that Mr. Brand has ties to Indiana U (Presidency & his wife is a faculty member), and Leyden has been involved with Indiana U, and seems to be active in other Indiana state organizations as well. I wonder if it's just a coincidence that Sampson escaped severe punishment? Anyway, another name to possibly consider in connection with this "mess" is Bill Saum - Director of Amateurism Certification (however, I have no idea what his job description is). I still am digging around but, for now, here is Todd Leyden's e-mail: tleyden@ncaa.org

The NCAA hasn't ruled on Sampson's situation. All that has happened is that IU reported the violations. The NCAA has made no ruling one way or the other. IU has come up with some diciplinary actions in getting rid of one of their scholarships (The coke dealer Bud Mackey), and the assistant involved has resigned. Whether or not the NCAA will agree with the severity of that punishment or clamp down with a more severe punishment is up in the air. THERE HAS BEEN NO RULING.

I love Lucca, but some of you guys are just reporting information that isn't true. Indiana hasn't gotten away with anything. To be honest, I don't think Sampson's phone calls were that big a deal. I think Lucca's situation is way less a big deal, but I think the loss of a scholarship and the dismisal of the assistant is fine for a punishment... And I hate IU.

My hope in all this is that they just remove the suspension on Lucca. I don't want IU basketball, or Oklahoma football to be thrown under the bus alongside Lucca. I want the NCAA to do what is best for the student athletes. What is best is letting Lucca and his buddy in Washington off the hook with NO punishment as they've done absolutely nothing wrong.

**Wesley** · 11-01-2007, 10:47 PM

NCAA - National Collegiate Athletic Association

Interesting that the basketball committee has no issues.

COMMITTEE SELECTION LINKS: A JSP APPLICATION

I see Lew Perkins of Kansas is on the committee for the Big 12.

**benjay** · 11-01-2007, 10:58 PM

Originally Posted by Llama006

The NCAA hasn't ruled on Sampson's situation. All that has happened is that IU reported the violations. The NCAA has made no ruling one way or the other. IU has come up with some diciplinary actions in getting rid of one of their scholarships (The coke dealer Bud Mackey), and the assistant involved has resigned. Whether or not the NCAA will agree with the severity of that punishment or clamp down with a more severe punishment is up in the air. THERE HAS BEEN NO RULING.

I love Lucca, but some of you guys are just reporting information that isn't true. Indiana hasn't gotten away with anything. To be honest, I don't think Sampson's phone calls were that big a deal. I think Lucca's situation is way less a big deal, but I think the loss of a scholarship and the dismisal of the assistant is fine for a punishment... And I hate IU.

My hope in all this is that they just remove the suspension on Lucca. I don't want IU basketball, or Oklahoma football to be thrown under the bus alongside Lucca. I want the NCAA to do what is best for the student athletes. What is best is letting Lucca and his buddy in Washington off the hook with NO punishment as they've done absolutely nothing wrong.

A good post. Mostly because I agree with you.

**PolkCityClone** · 11-01-2007, 11:31 PM

I sent them all a letter. Maybe one person will have the nads to step up and do the right thing.

**PolkCityClone** · 11-01-2007, 11:44 PM

Got this out of office reply from mdecesare@ncaa.org:

Thank you for your e-mail. I will be out of the office Friday November 2-Monday November 5. I will respond to your inquiry upon my return. If you need immediate assistance, please contact Kara Koestner at (317) 223-0755.

Thanks and have a great weekend!