A look back at four infamous scandals in college sports
By Dani Bostick
University of Minnesota
Some players needed “a lot of help”
The SMU scandal wasn’t the first of its kind, and it won’t be the last. One of the biggest academic scandals in college sports originated at the University of Minnesota in the mid-nineties. While the SMU violations to this point involve just one struggling student and a handful of school employees, the University of Minnesota scandal involved dozens of players over a span of years.
Colleges and universities have a wide network of resources for struggling students, particularly struggling student-athletes. Tutoring can be a helpful resource, but Minnesota took “helpful” to a new level.
On the eve of the 1999 NCAA basketball tournament, an article ran in the St. Paul Pioneer Press outlining explosive allegations from Jan Gangelhoff, a tutor frequently tasked with helping the school’s basketball players. She claimed that she didn’t just help; she did the players’ work.
Others tutors and even former players confirmed that it was standard practice for tutors to write athletes’ papers and do their take-home exams. Gangelhoff claimed that she single-handedly did over 400 assignments for players and was ultimately paid $3,000 by head coach Clem Haskins to continue “tutoring” players who were not approved through the counseling center.
Gangelhoff had documentation that supported her story. An investigation ensued, and the NCAA handed down punishments including a reduction of scholarships and paid recruiter visits. Most devastating for players, all of the Gophers’ appearances in NCAA and NIT tournaments were vacated, along with records set by players who had committed academic fraud.
Where are they now?
Haskins became a scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves, while Mark Dienhart, the athletic director, resigned and ended up working as a bank executive. McKinley Boston, who was vice president of the university during the scandal, was the athletic director at New Mexico State University from 2004 until the end of 2014.
Next: The saddest scandal in college sports