Spartan basketball head coach Tom Izzo said he’s saddened University of Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker and the current 2002-03 U-M basketball squad will be punished.
U-M penalized its basketball program Thursday because of a scandal involving former booster Ed Martin.
“I’ve always been a believer that the coaches and the players should take the hit, not the school,” Izzo said. “I feel for Tommy Amaker, and I don’t think he should have to deal with the aftermath of what happened nine or 10 years ago.”
U-M removed four banners from Crisler Arena - the 1992 Final Four, the 1993 Final Four, the 1997 National Invitational Tournament title and the 1998 Big Ten Tournament title.
“I never agreed with the standards that the school has to pay the price and the coach can move,” Izzo said. “The players can transfer and everything is rosy for the two parties that were most involved, and the part not involved is held hostage - it doesn’t make any sense.”
U-M will also forfeit all victories from 1991-93 and 1995-99, the six seasons players involved in the scandal played, and will not be allowed to participate in the 2003 postseason.
The scandal centers on Martin, who pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to launder money. Martin said he lent money to former U-M stars Chris Webber, Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor, Louis Bullock and their families.
“There is no excuse for what happened. It was wrong - plain and simple,” U-M President Mary Sue Coleman told The Associated Press. “This is a day of great shame.”
By imposing the sanctions, the university hopes to deter more severe actions from the NCAA.
MSU history sophomore Jeremy Exell said Amaker and current Wolverines shouldn’t have to pay the price for something they had no part in. But he said he also thinks teammates of Webber, Taylor, Traylor and Bullock are getting the short end of the stick.
“I feel bad for the players in the past because that is something they worked for, and they are suffering the mistakes of other people,” Exell said.
Some U-M students didn’t find any reason for the punishment. English junior Rachel Easley said the decision to forfeit all victories and take down banners is too strict.
“I think the punishment is harsh at this point seeing how it was how many years ago,” she said. “Why should the current players have to endure the punishment for someone else’s ill doings?”
MSU marketing junior Adam Stevens disagreed, saying the incident was humorous.
“I think that’s the funniest thing to ever happen,” Stevens said. “That’s like us giving back our championship banner.”
Staff writer Jason Carmel Davis contributed to this report.
Chris Mackinder can be reached at mackind8@msu.edu.
