When Kent Syverud took over as chancellor of Syracuse University, he inherited an NCAA investigation looking into wrongdoings in the school’s athletics department.

He was aware of the situation when he applied for the job, and spent time learning about the investigation before officially starting his position in January 2013. But it would be another two years before the process that began in 2007 finally drew to a close.

“My main concern about the NCAA investigation was how long it took,” Syverud said in an interview on Tuesday, characterizing the situation as one of four or five urgent matters he faced in his first year. “I thought it was important to bring the thing to a conclusion.”

The NCAA released its report on SU on March 6, 2015. The report detailed improper academic benefits, violations of the school’s drug policy and a lack of institutional control that had taken place over the course of several years.

Reflecting on the process about one year later, Syverud’s main issue was with the length of the investigation and the consequences that stemmed from its timing. And while the roughly 8-year process concluded just over a year ago, he said the situation isn’t completely in the rearview.

A lawyer by profession with an expertise in legal procedure, Syverud said his concern with the investigation was that punishments would be levied for actions that happened years ago against student athletes “who were in preschool and elementary school when the matters occurred.”

Many fans took issue for the same reason when the university announced a self-imposed ban in February 2015, about a month before the report was released. Syverud said it became apparent that the university’s arguments regarding appropriate penalties would be unsuccessful, and a postseason ban would be an appropriate penalty, as well as one that needed to be gotten out of the way.

“If we had not imposed a postseason ban when we did, it’s highly likely we’d have a postseason ban that we’d be facing now,” Syverud said. “The prospect of the postseason ban would’ve affected many things all this year for the team and for the community.”

Syverud added that the investigation was kept confidential from the majority of the community. As a result, he wasn’t surprised when many on campus had strong reactions to the infractions outlined in the report.

Daily Orange File Photo

“Had I been on the outside and just read the report when it came out, I would’ve been upset, concerned and disappointed in my university,” Syverud said.

The school has corrected many of the problems that led to violations in the first place. Another consequence with the length of the investigation, Syverud said, is that in many cases, those issues were resolved long before the report was even released.

Many of the penalties that the NCAA doled out have been addressed over the past year through the appeals process. The university won back scholarships, Jim Boeheim was able to start his 9-game suspension earlier than originally stated and the school failed in its appeal of vacated wins.

But there’s still at least one visible mark left by the investigation, as the school remains on probation for another four years. Syverud said it’s important everyone realizes what happened before can’t happen again, and that the consequences are severe. He said administrators aren’t proud of what was detailed in the NCAA report, but added that the university has moved on to ensure the same thing doesn’t happen in the future.

“Assuming now we do what we’re supposed to do and follow the rules, our success or failure is a function of what we control and what we do, not the function of a legal process in Indianapolis,” Syverud said. “I think there’s a great relief this is behind us in that sense.”

Published on March 8, 2016 at 11:22 pm

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27