AUSTIN, Texas -- The University of Texas football program, struggling to recover from its worst season in 30 years, Wednesday was hit with a two-year NCAA probation for 51 rules violations -- some of which involve the Longhorns' new head coach.
The NCAA said Texas will be allowed only 20 football scholarships instead of 25 for the 1988-89 season. Only 75 prospective athletes will be allowed to make on-campus visits, down from 95.
The NCAA, however, chose to allow Texas to appear on television and in bowl games during the probation and said it will not be subject to the NCAA's penalty for repeat offenders because its violations were 'serious, not major.'
Texas can escape with a year's probation if it complies with 13 NCAA orders. The list includes dismissal of staff members or players who knowingly violate NCAA rules, education programs for staff members and alumni about NCAA guidelines and support of a proposed state law that allows universities to sue alumni who violate NCAA regulations.
That measure already has been passed by the Legislature and awaits Gov. Bill Clements' signature.
Texas coaches and athletic officials, however, were saddened by the probation, which makes the university the fourth Southwest Conference school under sanctions. It joins Southern Methodist, Texas Christian and Texas Tech.
Particularly chagrined was football Coach David McWilliams, who succeeded the fired Fred Akers in December, but was identified in the NCAA report as having violated NCAA regulations while an assistant to Akers in the early 1980s.
McWilliams, who said he was 'embarrassed' by his errors, said Texas staff and players 'have all dedicated ourselves to be sure we do not make these or other mistakes in the future.'
The NCAA report, which mentioned job titles but no names, said McWilliams, assistant athletic director Ken Dabbs and two unnamed former assistant coaches 'arranged for or provided several student-athletes with various amounts of cash for the young men's personal use.'
All the violations occurred under the administration of Akers, who was fired in December after the Longhorns' first losing season in 30 years. Akers, now head coach at Purdue, declined comment Wednesday on the NCAA action.
'I feel the committee heard all of the evidence and treated us fairly,' Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds said. 'This marks the end of an investigation in which our football program has undergone scrutiny as intensive as any university has ever faced.'
The NCAA said the 51 violations against Texas included four major violations. They involved players selling complimentary tickets, some for amounts in excess of face value; hints by a former assistant coach a player could receive extra benefits if he attended Texas; and entertainment, transportation and cash given to a recruit during the 1980-81 season.
The fourth occurred in January 1984, when two athletic department officials obtained a $2,600 loan from an Austin bank to repair a player's car. The two students who damaged the car each obtained a $1,300 loan and paid off the original loan.
'A significant number of violations were found in this case,' the NCAA said. 'With a single exception, none of the serious violations involved the recruitment of prospective student-athletes, and it does not appear that the violations resulted in a significant competitive advantage for the University of Texas.
'However, most of the violations can not be considered isolated or inadvertent in nature. Thus, these violations in the aggregate constitute a serious infractions case.'
Charles Smart, the NCAA's assistant director of enforcement, said Texas will not be subject to the so-called 'death penalty' for major repeat offenders. The penalty was leveled in February against SMU, which will not play football for two years.
The NCAA has placed Texas on probation twice previously, but neither case involved sanctions.
