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Sun Devils Banned From 2012 Postseason Play…

Sanctions upheld Friday by the NCAA occured when Pat Murphy was the Arizona State head coach.

The NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee has upheld penalties against the Arizona State baseball team. The penalties, which include a one year NCAA postseason ban, were originally leveled last year. Three years of probation were also upheld. The sanctions stem from what the NCAA deemed a period of “lack of institutional control” by former ASU baseball coach Pat Murphy and the school’s athletic department.

Two “major” violations were upheld by the NCAA: overpayment of student-athletes for work in an outreach program for underprivileged kids for work not performed and allowing student managers to perform certain tasks. Murphy’s Sun Devils were also found to have used an impermissible recruiter.

“Obviously, we are very disappointed,” Arizona State Athletics Director Lisa Love said in a statement. “While we appreciate the committee’s decision to reduce the third violation to secondary status, we are concerned about its decision to uphold the other two. We believe that others who review the case will share our concerns about this outcome.”

Penalties are a three-year probation, a ban on postseason baseball competition, scholarship reductions, a vacation of wins, recruiting restrictions and limitations on coaching activity during practice. Some of the penalties were self-imposed by ASU.

The Infractions Appeals Committee upheld the initial ruling because of Arizona State’s repeat violator status. The Infractions Appeals Committee noted that even though it reduced one violation from major to secondary, there was sufficient basis for all of the penalties imposed by the Committee on Infractions.

Tim Esmay is now entering his third year as the head coach of the Sun Devil baseball program. He led ASU to the College World Series in his first year at the helm in 2010. They advanced to the Austin Super Regional last year, before falling to Texas.

“Obviously we are disappointed that we will not be able to participate in the postseason in 2012,” Esmay said of the sanctions in a statement. “The goals for this program will not and have not changed. We will take the same approach towards every practice and every game, non-conference and Pac-12, that we have always taken. Our goal to be the best team in the Pac-12 remains our focus.

The last time Arizona State did not participate in the NCAA postseason was 1999. The program has been to the College World Series 22 times.

The Appeals Committee members who heard this case were: chair Christopher L. Griffin of Foley & Lardner LLP; Susan Cross Lipnickey, health studies professor and the faculty athletics representative at Miami University (Ohio); Jack Friedenthal, professor of law at George Washington University; and Patti Ohlendorf, vice president for legal affairs at University of Texas.

College Baseball 360 spoke to Murphy last spring about his desire to return to coaching college baseball. CLICK HERE to see that video interview.

 

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Pat Murphy Leaves Arizona State

Pat Murphy won 629 games in 15 years at ASU.

eliminated by Texas a day later in Omaha, and what has transpired in the time since then has easily been the top college baseball story of the year.

Arizona State announced Murphy’s “resignation” on Nov. 20, ending his 15-year reign in the desert that saw his Sun Devils advance to Omaha four times.  However, Murphy tells a different story (or at least he did at one time).

About three weeks after his “resignation” was announced (a resignation that has never been publicly recognized by the NCAA) Murphy told the Arizona Republic newspaper “Without warning or explanation I was terminated as Arizona State head baseball coach. This was a decision—unprecedented in its timing—that was not dictated by me and isn’t something I agree with. I look forward to my next job coaching in the NCAA.”

The “He Said – She Said” just kept getting stranger after that.  ASU Vice President for Athletics Lisa Love issued a statement responding to media reports that NCAA sanctions could be heading Arizona State’s way (although she never mentioned any possbile sanctions).  The statement read like this:

Lisa Love (ASU photo)

“This statement is in response to recent media coverage.  Arizona State University’s athletics program has an unyielding commitment to rules compliance.  We adhere to policies that govern fair play, and when called into question, have embarked on self-evaluation to determine both the facts of the matter and, if necessary, corrective action. The style with which we proactively and transparently manage, self-correct if needed, and report findings to authorities (even inviting authorities to jointly participate in preliminary reviews), has been cited by the organizations that govern us as model management.”

“In a recent compliance review conducted by the Pacific-10 Conference in conjunction with the NCAA recertification process the following statement was made about ASU: “In every key area, the vital components of an effective compliance program are in place, and they are functioning properly.”

“External reviews of our compliance program go well beyond the NCAA prescription. In fact, the number and regularity of our external audits has been cited as an industry standard.”

“Intercollegiate Athletics at ASU’s mission consists of three parts: educating and graduating our student-athletes, playing by the rules, and winning at the championship level. All three parts of the mission are critical to our success and, when any one element is not being served, we take appropriate action to address the problem.”

Within a day the Arizona Republic published the alleged NCAA infractions facing ASU that it says Love received on Nov. 19 – the day before Murphy’s “resignation” was announced.

Here are the alleged infractions:

1. Baseball officials violated a one-call-per-week rule by making at least 490 phone calls to prospective athletes between January 2004 and June 2009, the NCAA said.

2. Baseball coach Pat Murphy and four others allegedly committed ethical violations and compromised the NCAA investigation by discussing, and preparing spreadsheets on, matters related to the probe.

3. A then-assistant coach engaged in unethical conduct by denying he had conversations with another staff member about improper phone calls to prospects, the NCAA said.

4. Murphy and a former staffer violated phone-call and other rules in recruiting a prospective athlete.

5. Former athletes, designated as student managers, performed on-field coaching duties during games and batting practices. Their involvement violated regulations that limit the number of coaches.

6. Baseball athletes received impermissible training at non-ASU sports centers between spring 2004 and spring 2008 for a total of $63,000 in extra benefits.

7. Twenty athletes received a combined $5,889 for work they did not do in Murphy’s Programs for Youth program.

8. Murphy failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance with NCAA rules and to monitor practices of baseball administrators between January 2004 and June 2009, the NCAA alleged.

9. ASU violated institutional control principles related to allegations No. 1, 5, 6 and 7.

10. ASU committed a secondary, or lesser, violation by conducting a baseball camp for six prospective athletes during a period when no recruiting was to take place.

Neither Love nor Murphy has commented publicly since the list of infractions was published.  No action on any of the allegations is expected to be taken until somewhere around the end of the 2010 season at the earliest.

Other Top Moments Of 2009

2.  LSU Wins The National Championship

3.  Longhorn Longball In Omaha

4.  Southern Mississippi Sweeps Florida To Go To Omaha

5.  The Texas vs. Boston College 25-inning Game

6.  Andrew Darr Comes Off The Bench & Comes Up Big For Arkansas

7.  Virginia Beats Stephen Strasburg In Irvine Regional Opener

8.  Washington State And Gonzaga End Long NCAA Tournament Droughts

9.  Cal Poly Gets Its First NCAA Tournament Bid

10.  Kansas’ Field of Dreams: Kansas, Kansas State & Wichita State All Get NCAA Bids

11.  Stephen Strasburg Strikes out 17 in a no hitter

12.  Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers No-hits Michigan

13.  Kansas Sweeps #1 Texas

14.  Bryce Brentz Has An April To Remember

15.  Clemson’s Kyle Parker Does Double Duty

16.  #1 Arkansas Beats #1 Arizona State

17.  Rhode Island Beats Miami And Oklahoma State

18.  Kansas State’s A.J. Morris beats Arizona State’s Mike Leake

19.  North Carolina’s Mike Fox Wins His 1,000th Game

20.  Illinois Shocks #1 LSU In Baton Rouge

21.  Alabama’s Kent Matthes Launches Longballs

22.  Freshman Levi Michael Starts In North Carolina’s Season Opener

23.  LSU Opens The New Alex Box Stadium

24.  Oregon Brings Back Baseball

The Plot Continues To Thicken In The Wake Of Pat Murphy’s Departure

Lisa Love (ASU photo)

The report says ASU officials received a “notice of allegations” from the NCAA on Nov. 19, which was the day before the school announced head coach Pat Murphy’s resignation.  Murphy spoke for the first time over the weekend and told the Republic that he was fired without cause.

ASU Vice President For Athletics, Lisa Love, denied at that time that Murphy’s “resignation” was connected to an ongoing two year NCAA investigation into the Sun Devil baseball program.

The notice from the NCAA to ASU reads “It is alleged that the institution violated the principles of institutional control in that it failed to ensure adequate systems to monitor for compliance and provide adequate NCAA rules education involving the baseball program and student athletes.”

Pat Murphy

A decision from the NCAA on the matter is not expected to made until sometime around the end of the 2010 college baseball season at the earliest.

As we have mentioned twice before on this site, the NCAA has never made any mention of Murphy on The Record on NCAA.org.  The Record is the section of the web site where coaching hirings, firings, resignations, retirements and the like are officially noted.  However, an announcement was made on The Record when ASU announced the hiring of interim head baseball coach Tim Esmay earlier this month.

CLICK HERE to read the full Arizona Republic report.

Esmay has been to Omaha six times with ASU, including as a player

Tim Esmay (ASU Photo)

for University Athletics Lisa Love. “As a graduate of ASU, he offers perspective as both a Sun Devil student-athlete and as a coach. He brings a wealth of ASU familiarity to our current team as well as significant head coaching experience.”

Esmay was the head baseball coach at the University of Utah from 1997 to 2004, winning a WAC title and WAC Coach of the Year honors in 1997. In eight seasons at Utah he compiled a 213-235-1 record. Esmay had 18 of his players go on to play professional baseball, including three from his last team in 2004. He also had 27 players earn all-conference honors during his tenure.

“I’m excited at the opportunity to continue the tradition that has been established by Coach Bobby Winkles, Coach Jim Brock and Coach Pat Murphy,” Esmay said.

“We are excited about the upcoming season with Tim Esmay at the helm,” Love added.

Esmay began his coaching career following his playing days at Arizona State (1986-87). He served as an assistant coach at Arizona State under Jim Brock from 1988 to 1990, then again in Brock’s final season of 1994. He returned to Arizona State in 2005 as an assistant coach, helping the team to a third place national finish and an appearance in the College World Series. He was named the Assistant Head Coach prior to the 2007 season and served in that capacity in each of the past three seasons, winning three straight Pac-10 titles and advancing to the College World Series twice.

Over his playing and coaching career, Esmay has been a part of six teams that played in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska (1987, 1988, 1994, 2005, 2007, 2009).

Esmay was a two-year starter for the Sun Devils following an All-American career at Scottsdale Community College. The infielder hit .305 (121-for-397) during his two years in Tempe with 23 doubles and five home runs. He was a member of ASU’s 1987 College World Series team and was named to the All-West Region team that season.

A graduate of Horizon High School, where his number 5 was retired in 1998, Esmay also coached at Brophy College Prep in Phoenix for two years (1992-93) and was an assistant at Grand Canyon University (1995) and Utah (1996) before taking over the head job in Salt Lake City in 1997.

Esmay’s eight-year career at Utah also saw his teams completely rewrite the Ute record books. In his first season directing the Utah baseball program, Esmay did what no Ute coach had done in 32 years when he led Utah to a WAC division title and a 36-21-1 record in 1997. The Utes posted a 22-8 record in the Northern Division that year. They also set nine school records as Esmay was named the 1997 Louisville Slugger WAC Coach of the Year. In 2002, Esmay guided Utah to a 33-26 overall and 16-14 conference record. The 33 wins is the second most in school history since 1963, and the second-place league finish is the Utes best since joining the MWC in `99. Senior pitcher Mitch Maio garnered 2002 MWC Co-Player of the Year honors.

Esmay replaces Pat Murphy, who resigned his position as ASU head coach on Nov. 20th.

All hires are pending approval by ASU’s Human Resources Department.

(Release & Staff Report)

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

Murphy Was 629-284-1 In 15 Seasons At ASU

Nothing has been confirmed, but the two most prevalent theories are that Murphy’s resignation either had to do with possible NCAA infractions, a dispute over a contract extension with ASU Vice President for Athletics Lisa Love or some combination of the two.

In the time since his resignation I have talked to several people who know Murphy, and while most of them were “shocked” to hear of his depature, most of them were not shocked at the idea that Murphy might have left ASU in a huff after a disagreement with his AD.

Tim Prister played baseball at Notre Dame in the 1980s.  He currently writes for Irishillustrated.com, and he covered Murphy when Murphy was the head coach of the Irish.  When I asked Prister this week if he would be surprised at such a scenario Prister said with a wry grin “I would not be surprised at all if that were the case.”

Brian Cleary counts himself among Murphy’s supporters.  The current Cincinnati Bearcats head coach was a Murphy assistant in 1993 & 1994 in South Bend.  Cleary credits his mentor for “kick-starting” his coaching career and said that Murphy has been good for the game “There probably isn’t a more colorful personality on the national stage.  He’s passionate about college baseball and about coaching and about what we all do as coaches.  He is willing to speak on behalf of the sport”, he said.

Cleary also added “Certainly I think his personality adds to whatever event it is.  Be it a three game Pac-10 series or Omaha.  One of the things I think Murph brings is the willingness to speak his mind and speak on behalf of college

Brian Cleary

baseball.  I think the head coach at ASU is different than the head coach at a lot of places, because that program in relation to football and basketball is probably a lot different than it is at a lot of schools.  I think he was really a great ambassador for college baseball during his time there.”

Certainly Murphy’s departure at one of the premiere programs in college baseball (and possible return…somewhere) will have a ripple effect throughout the coaching ranks, whether it’s this year or next.

Here’s a “By The Numbers” look at Murphy’s career:

10…wins in his first season (1983) as a college head coach at Maryville (Tenn)

51…wins in his 25th season (2009) as a head coach at ASU

49…consecutive 30 win seasons by ASU baseball teams

2…head baseball coaches (Bobby Winkles and Jim Brock) in Sun Devil history prior to Murphy’s arrival in Tempe

17…NCAA Tournament appearances in 22 seasons as a Division I coach

12…NCAA Tournament appearances in 15 seasons at ASU

18…years between NCAA Tournament appearances for Notre Dame before earning a berth in 1989, Murphy’s second season at the Fighting Irish helm

4…College World Series appearances by ASU in the last 15 seasons

113…combined home wins by the Sun Devils over the last three seasons

12…ASU home losses in that span

441…wins since 2000 by ASU, the most by any Pac 10 team in that stretch

7…ASU players named Pac 10 Player of the Year in the last 15 seasons

506…games Arizona State played without being shutout between April 7, 1995 and February 15, 2004-an NCAA record

9.4…runs-a-game the Sun Devils scored in that 9-year stretch

119…Arizona State players taken in the MLB draft during the Murphy era-the most of any school

1…of those players tabbed a big league MVP-Boston Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia-2008 AL MVP

914…games played in Murphy’s 15 seasons at ASU

914…home runs hit by the Sun Devils in those 15 seasons

8,084…runs scored in those games-an average of 8.8 runs-a-game

Murphy went to four College World Series, won four Pac-10 titles in 15 seasons

Former ASU Head Coach Pat Murphy

“Coach Murphy has an outstanding record of success on the playing field,” said Lisa Love, university vice president for athletics. “I thank him for 16 years of hard work and service to the university and the sport.”

Pat Murphy became ASU’s head baseball coach in August 1994. During his tenure, he was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year four times, his teams took three straight Pac-10 titles, four overall, and four College World Series berths, and in 1998 he was named the National Coach of the Year.

Since the 2000 season, no other Pac-10 school has won as many games as ASU, both overall and conference games. Murphy has also had more players drafted by Major League Baseball since 1995 than any other coach in the nation.

ASU will immediately begin a national search for a new head baseball coach.

(ASU Press Release)

ASU Player Reaction

Kole Calhoun:  Nobody was expecting this, and nobody thought this was gonna happen when we came in to lift this morning, but it did.  We can’t do anything about it.  We can just move forward.

Josh Spence:  Of course we’re all a little shocked.  We love the guy…I can honestly say that.  He’s a great coach, and I just wanna wish him all the best for his future.

Rauol Torrez:  This is a shock to everyone in the program…and it’s kinda hard to get over…to deal with right now.  We’re gonna be fine and stick together and get though.

Murphy had a $300,000 annual salary that was guaranteed through 2011.  ASU Vice President for Athletics Lisa Love told the Arizona Republic that Murphy’s resignation is not directly related to a two-year investigation after allegations made by a former baseball employee.

ASU hired the Indianapolis-based legal firm Ice Miller to investigate charges that include academic fraud, improper recruiting travel, improper use of training at Athletes’ Performance and violations relating to players working for Murphy’s non-profit PTM Programs for Youth.

Love became ASU’s Athletic Director in 2005, and she has hired eight coaches during her tenture.  Among them, football coach Dennis Erickson and men’s basketball coach Herb Sendek.