Nebraska wrestlers Paul Donahoe and Kenny Jordan deserved the
dismissals the Athletic Department handed them after the two appeared
naked and separately in photographs and performed sexual acts on
themselves in videos on a pornography Web site.
However, they warranted the boot from the NU wrestling program not
solely because of the online incident, which the NCAA has not yet
deemed as a violation of its rules, but rather because of that incident
coupled with a prior infringement of NCAA rules.
The Nebraska Athletic Department upheld policy and followed NCAA rules
- as they should have - but we disapprove of the manner in which
information was released to the public, particularly for concerned
wrestling fans.
As details surfaced - very slowly - after the Aug. 12 dismissals, the
public learned from NU's Athletic Director Tom Osborne that Donahoe and
Jordan first became ineligible to participate on the wrestling squad in
March after the duo violated an extra-benefits rule, which states
athletes cannot accept benefits or gifts from university employees or
boosters.
In that incident, the UNL Athletic Department appealed to the NCAA to
have the wrestlers reinstated, Osborne told The Associated Press. The
wrestlers were suspended one match.
By not providing the public with all relevant information at the onset
of the dismissals, the Athletic Department has made it easy for the
Husker community to question the department's integrity. The public has
been left to view the wrestlers' dismissals as a possible infringement
of First Amendment rights of the athletes' freedom of speech and
expression.