Exactly 25 years ago today, the front page of the Star Tribune prominently featured a package of stories that detailed the findings and fallout of a University of Minnesota report that led to "one of the biggest housecleanings in the history of the NCAA."
Then-University President Mark Yudof, featured above in the photo that anchored A1 that morning, said Gophers basketball coach Clem Haskins oversaw what "became an isolated fiefdom" as investigators found athletic department officials helped at least 18 players cheat on their classwork between 1993 and 1998.
The report found that Haskins told players to lie to university attorneys when they asked about their academic conduct before that year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
The Strib reported that a small number of people "deliberately engaged in fraud" that included the "routine writing of assignments, papers and exams." Jan Gangelhoff, a tutor for student athletes, and Alonzo Newby, an academic adviser, were specifically called out in the report.
So was Haskins, who received a $1.5 million buyout from the university. Yudof "pushed out" athletic director McKinley Boston and athletic director for men's sports Mark Dienhart by refusing to renew their contracts, both of which were set to end after the 1999-2000 academic year.
