Fullerton Basketball on Probation

Cal State Fullerton, which hasn’t had a winning men’s basketball season since 1993, suffered another setback in its bid to rebuild its program Thursday.

The NCAA put Fullerton on probation for four years and restricted the school from giving scholarships to community college transfers for three years for alleged infractions by the program in 1993 and ‘94, when Brad Holland was head coach.

The NCAA also reduced by two the number of scholarships Fullerton can offer each of the next two years.

“These were serious violations and they call for a severe penalty,” said David Swank, chairman of the NCAA Division I infractions committee.

The school is considering appealing the length of the probation and the length of the recruiting ban on community college players, Athletic Director John Easterbrook said.

Fullerton, however, imposed several of the penalties on itself after its own investigation, including reducing the number of scholarships in the program from 13 to 11.

The infractions committee decided against a ban on postseason play.

“We knew that the program was deficient, and that we needed to bring it up to a full level of compliance,” Easterbrook said.

Easterbrook said the school has 15 days to file an appeal.

According to the infraction committee report, prospective players received “assistance in registering and paying the costs of correspondence courses,” as well as “assistance in course registration and payment of tuition costs” at junior colleges.

The report also alleges “improper cash payments, lodging, transportation and other benefits.”

Swank said the committee cited a failure on the part of Holland and former athletic director Bill Shumard to “adequately monitor” the program. Shumard resigned at Fullerton in 1994 and is now athletic director at Long Beach State. Holland left Fullerton after two seasons to become head coach at the University of San Diego. Neither was immediately available for comment.

Bob Hawking, the Titans’ current head coach, also is restricted from off-campus recruiting from December of last year through Nov. 30 of this year. Easterbrook said that restriction was self-imposed by the university because of “some secondary violations that came up” during Fullerton’s own investigation.