A Laundry List of Allegations

There is a major list of NCAA rule violations so far accumulated by IUPUI Women's Basketball Head Coach Shann Hart:

• Hart violated NCAA rules by requiring basketball activities -- practice, film study, weightlifting -- in excess of 20 hours per week. Time logs required by the NCAA, obtained by The Star through a public records request, show glaring omissions and questionable verification.
• Coaches routinely watched recruits scrimmage against current players -- a violation of NCAA rules -- through a window outside the gym.
• A Star review of logs for the past four seasons shows not a single minute listed for "film review," a routine and mandatory activity that players said often lasted more than two hours. Players said coaches would pick pet players or freshmen to supply the one or two signatures on the school's compliance log.

There is an even longer list of non-rule breaking activities that are extremely unprofessional and more than just frowned upon by administrators everywhere:

• Hart repeatedly and publicly humiliated players, including handing out a framed "award" -- in front of the entire team -- to the player with the worst grade-point average.
• Hart probed the details of her players' personal lives, including sexual orientation, once asking a player, "Do you like girls?" During a post-game tirade, Spriggs identified another player by name, saying, "I know y'all (having sex)." Yet another player recalled a meeting that included the player's mother and Hart. In the middle of the discussion, Hart blurted out: "Does your mom know you're not a virgin?"
• Last season after a loss, Hart gave her college athletes children's "Happy Meals" for their post-game meal.

The former athletes interviewed, as well as ones I've spoken to, can vouch for her basketball knowledge, but all say behind the scenes she caused fear, showed favoritism, and purposely humiliated players.

Problems like this can be taken all the way back to her coaching position at American University, where there were similar accusations - despite backing by her current top assistant (and former player under Coach Hart) Chanel Spriggs. A former player said Hart would not let her stop jumping rope, even though was attempting to recover from a stress fracture injury in her leg. That player summed up the accusations, saying, ""She is very good when it comes to X's and O's, knowing the game but she is a terrible, terrible people person."

Players accuse Hart of additional near-rule violations as well, such as holding practice at 12:01 a.m. the morning after a loss. (NCAA rules prohibit practice on the day of games.)

Many thanks to Indy Star for putting their article in a much more easily accessible format on the web. Also, great investigative reporting by Mark Alesia and his team (Heather Gillers and Tim Evans).

The NCAA will no doubt have a major investigation into these accusations, and Shann Hart, along with her staff, will be on the (VERY) hot seat.