The NCAA Wednesday placed the University of Wisconsin’s athletic programs on two years’ probation, mostly for violations in the use of booster club money by various staff members.
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 77 UW staffers received reimbursements from booster club accounts without proper authorization from the chancellor’s office. The payments themselves were for legitimate uses, so the penalties stem entirely from the lack of proper prior approval.
Head football coach Barry Alvarez and athletic director Pat Richter were specifically named in the report, both for making commercial endorsements without approval. In apparently the lone hockey connection, an unnamed member of the sports information department was cited for accepting $1,600 from the Blue Line Club for editing hockey game programs.
The penalties, which were described as “light,” do not involve reductions in scholarships or other restrictions on the Wisconsin athletic department’s ability to recruit and compete.
