Syracuse Basketball Repeatedly Violate Drug Policy

Pat Forde and Charles Robinson over at Yahoo Sports are reporting that over the past decade Syracuse basketball was awash in positive drug tests and, in many cases, failed to adhere to its internal drug policy while playing ineligible players.


Over the course of a three-month investigation, four sources with intimate knowledge of the Syracuse men’s basketball program told Yahoo! Sports at least 10 players since 2001 have tested positive for a banned recreational substance or substances. The sources said all 10 of those players were allowed to practice and play at times when they should have been suspended by the athletic department, including instances when some players may not have known of their own ineligibility. The four sources said Syracuse violated its drug policy in at least two areas: failing to properly count positive tests; and playing ineligible players after they should have been subject to suspension.


Two sources told Yahoo! Sports that of the 10 players, at least one player continued to play after failing four tests and another player played after failing three.

“I don’t know anything about it,” Boeheim said. “I would not comment on anything like that. Good luck with your story.  “Obviously, I’m not going to talk about anything at all,” he said.

Beyond statute-of-limitations issues, Syracuse could also be charged with lack of institutional control for failing to adhere to its own drug policy, similar to sanctions recently levied against Baylor University. A wide-ranging NCAA inquiry into the Bears’ basketball program in 2005 revealed the athletic department failed to follow its established guidelines by concealing positive marijuana tests for three players. A report released by the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions after the Baylor investigation stated: “The failure of the university to follow its own [drug testing] procedures demonstrated a lack of institutional control.”