The violations precipated by ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro take this whole issue to another level. What really stands out is the abuse Shapiro heaped on the compliance director. The following is from yahoosports.com:
Nevin Shapiro says he was drunk, humiliated and belligerent.
It was Miami’s final home game ever at the Orange Bowl, Nov. 10, 2007. The halftime scoreboard read Virginia 31-0 (en route to a 48-0 embarrassment). Everything Shapiro held dear about the Hurricanes was being stomped on.
As a major booster to the program Shapiro had access to the Orange Bowl press box and that’s where he spotted David Reed, the school’s associate athletic director for compliance. Shapiro felt Reed had been implementing rules that were too stringent, trying to keep boosters and players apart.
To Shapiro, the results of Reed’s efforts were manifesting themselves on the field. A once-powerful program was a competitive disgrace.
“So I tried to kick his ass,” said Shapiro, who despite standing just 5-foot-5 was always willing to fight. “I was screaming at him, calling him a sissy over and over, at least five times. I shouted, ‘these guys are a bunch of [expletives] playing for a real [expletive] [head coach Randy Shannon] and, by the way, you’re a (expletive) too.’
The scene was confirmed to Yahoo! Sports by a separate source who helped break up the situation. The University of Miami declined comment and didn’t make Reed available for an interview.
Shapiro never laid a hand on Reed but the wild, public scene is perhaps the most blatant example of a lack of institutional control ever seen in college athletics. It almost perfectly sums up the depths the Miami program sank, except, well, that wasn’t even rock bottom for the Hurricanes.
As bad as it was for a notorious booster to try to punch out the compliance director, worse is that the school allowed Shapiro to continue operating as he wished. Shapiro said an athletic department official told him that after the confrontation Reed investigated Shapiro and discovered his troubling ties to athletes, coaches and his part ownership in a professional sports agency.
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