Lest You Thought It Couldn't Happen at UCLA...

Unfortunately, problems of the type that happened at Penn State U apparently can happen at UCLA.  From the LA Times:

A longtime UCLA athletics official resigned amid allegations that he “engaged in inappropriate conduct,” the university said in a statement released Tuesday to The Times. UCLA Associate Athletic Director Michael Sondheimer resigned June 27 after being placed on administrative leave June 3, the statement said.

CBS 2 reported that Sondheimer “attempted to engage children in sexual chats” online.  Sondheimer graduated from UCLA in 1977 and spent at least 36 years as a UCLA athletic administrator, according to a biography posted on the UCLA Athletics website. For decades he was in charge of the department's compliance with NCAA rules and UCLA guidelines on academic admissions and on-campus recruiting, the biography said...

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ucla-athletic-official-resigns-20130702,0,815165.story

Change in Mood(y's)

Inside Higher Ed and other news media are reporting that the credit rating agency Moody's is downgrading the outlook for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) because of a lawsuit filed by Ed O'Bannon, a former UCLA basketball player (photo).

From the absolutely 100% reliable Wikipedia:

Edward Charles O'Bannon, Jr. (born August 14, 1972 in Los Angeles, California) is a retired American basketball player, who was a power forward for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball team on their 1995 NCAA championship team, where he was known as "Ed-O". He was selected by the New Jersey Nets with the ninth overall pick in the 1995 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft, but played only two seasons in the NBA before playing another eight years professionally in six different countries...

O'Bannon was named as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on behalf of its Division I football and men's basketball players over the organization's use for commercial purposes of the images of its former student athletes. Specifically, the suit argued that upon graduation, a former student athlete should become entitled to financial compensation for future commercial uses of his or her image by the NCAA...

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_O%27Bannon

The Inside Higher Ed story is at http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/06/26/moodys-downgrades-ncaa-credit-outlook

Meanwhile, UCLA is in a good mood concerning the affairs of the NCAA:

UCLA Takes NCAA Title:The Bruins beat Mississippi State 8-0 to become the national champions.
Source: http://centurycity.patch.com/groups/sports/p/ucla-takes-ncaa-title

But I'm sure the folks at NCAA are in a bad mood today - probably not the mood below:

Not off to a good start

Looks like our new basketball coach should be having some of this formula for breakfast. From the Westwood-Century City Patch today:

UCLA Coach Apologizes for Sex Assault Case Comments at Iowa

New UCLA head basketball coach Steve Alford apologized Thursday for repeatedly defending one of his players at the University of Iowa in 2002 when the sophomore star was arrested and charged with sexual assault. Alford, as coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes team, made repeated public statements insisting that Pierre Pierce was innocent of the accusation. Pierce eventually pleaded to a reduced charge in a plea deal that a prosecutor on the case said was offered in large part because of the coach's persistent support of the player.

Retired Johnson County, Iowa, prosecutor J. Patrick White told the Orange County Registerthe coach's pronouncements raised the profile of the case and left the victim reluctant to testify...

Alford issued a statement through UCLA Thursday, saying he "instinctively and mistakenly came to his (Pierce's) defense before knowing all the facts." ... 

Full story at http://centurycity.patch.com/articles/ucla-coach-apologizes-for-sex-assault-case-comments-at-iowa

A bit of audio from the apology:

UCLA History: Pauley Construction

The photo shows UCLA Chancellor Franklin Murphy, basketball coach John Wooden, and donor Edwin Pauley at the groundbreaking ceremony for Pauley Pavillion, probably around 1964.  (The official opening was in 1965.)  Pauley - whose wealth came from oil - was a prominent Democrat.  However, the fundraising drive for the structure (which Pauley matched) was headed by H.R. Haldeman of Watergate fame.  Pauley, a Regent, played a major role in the dismissal of UC President Clark Kerr due to student protests, primarily at UC-Berkeley.

Speaking of firing, we haven’t featured sports on this blog.  But there is so much news surrounding the firing and hiring of the current UCLA basketball coach that the issue is worth noting:

UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero announced today the appointment of Steve Alford as the 13th Head Men's Basketball Coach in program history. With 22 years of collegiate head coaching experience, Alford led the University of New Mexico to a 29-6 record this season, winning back-to-back Mountain West Conference regular-season and tournament titles, and a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the third time as the Lobos' head coach."Steve is the perfect fit for UCLA," said Guerrero. "He is part of the storied history of the game of college basketball and understands the tradition and uniqueness of UCLA. Yet he also connects with a new generation of players and brings an up-tempo and team-oriented brand of basketball to Westwood. We welcome Steve, his wife Tanya, and children Kory, Bryce and Kayla to the Bruin family and look forward to many years of success." Alford will be formally introduced to the Los Angeles media at a press conference on campus on Tuesday, April 2...

Full UCLA release at http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/033013aaa.html

Earlier views and news on firing of previous coach Ben Howland:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/basketball/la-sp-plaschke-ben-howland-20130325,0,7489477.column

http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/basketball/la-sp-0326-ben-howland-20130326,0,2664988.story

http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/basketball/la-sp-dwyre-20130328,0,2294992.column