Nearly two weeks since Corey Maggette apologized publicly about his involvement with Myron Piggie and nearly two months since he first admitted accepting money, nothing new has emerged from NCAA headquarters in Bloomington, Ind.
Throughout the days that followed Maggette's retreat from his hard-lined months-long stance of innocence, Duke officials said they expected a decision to arrive from the NCAA in the immediate future, while NCAA spokesmen assured the media that sanctions would follow shortly.
Two months later, both parties insist an NCAA response is on the horizon, but there's no telling exactly how far that landscape may stretch.
"Honestly I do not know when it will happen," NCAA public information coordinator Laronica Conway said. "This is the normal process, but I couldn't tell you where [the NCAA committee] are or what they are doing right now."
Conway added that nothing has happened yet and the evaluation process is not too far along.
Maggette informed Duke administrators in early July that he had accepted nearly $2,000 in cash payments from Piggie during the summer before his senior year of high school. Maggette issued the statement in order to avoid testifying at a federal evidentiary hearing that would have reconciled his denial with Piggie's acknowledgement of guilt. According to NCAA bylaw 12.1.1-(a), his statement confirmed his ineligibility to play for the 1999 Blue Devil basketball team that advanced to the NCAA championship game.
Duke's NCAA compliance coordinator Chris Kennedy said the athletic department doesn't expect the NCAA to reach a decision until later this fall. Initially, it seemed pretty clear cut that the NCAA would vacate the Blue Devils from the 1999 NCAA tournament, stripping the program of its runner-up finish and forcing the team to return a significant percentage of its $226,815 in revenue from the tournament.
Precedent for the exact amount was set when the NCAA sanctioned UCLA by withdrawing 45 percent of the school's tournament revenue. UCLA was penalized for unknowingly having an ineligible player on the team-JaRon Rush, a teammate of Maggette's on the Kansas City-based summer league team, also accepted money from Piggie.
At the time, Duke officials remained optimistic that college sports' governing body might act leniently when handing down its punishment because Maggette's infraction occurred before he arrived on campus, while Rush continued to take money from an agent after he began playing for UCLA.
"I still don't know what they are going to do," Kennedy said. "They have some leeway to do things other than just take 45 percent. They have some latitude there."
Kennedy noted that Duke's actual profit from the NCAA tournament was far less than the sum it earned from advancing to the championship game, because that total was divided among the nine ACC teams. Duke administrators anticipate that the NCAA might take a portion from what the University actually received rather than what they earned.
Two weeks ago, Maggette displayed his first public act of contrition when he called his behavior "embarrassing." Admitting he made a "mistake," Maggette publicly apologized to his family, Mike Krzyzewski, the basketball program and especially to his fans.
"I was wrong," Maggette told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I would hope that my experience could be a lesson to others because this is something I would not like to see any other person have to go through."
Maggette said he thought the money, a $2,000 total distributed over several months, was supposed to compensate the players for food and expenses incurred from traveling with the summer league team.
"I didn't think there was anything wrong with it, especially since [Piggie] was our coach and seemed like a nice guy," he told the Sun-Times. "I just assumed he wouldn't be doing anything that would compromise us in any way."
Now a multi-millionaire with the Los Angeles Clippers, Maggette said he is considering reimbursing Duke for any funds the NCAA takes away.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.