Sanctions given to men’s basketball program

The men’s basketball program and NIC’s athletic department were handed sanctions by the Northwest Athletic Conference [NWAC] after an investigation found that NIC violated league rules.

Men’s basketball head coach Corey Symons was suspended for ten games by the NWAC for his role in rule violations. The men’s basketball program has flourished under Symons in his tenure as head coach.

The penalties handed to NIC include:

• Vacating the championships of the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 men’s basketball teams
• Removal of all related championship memorabilia on display at NIC
• Removal of related championship titles on websites and social media run by NIC or NWAC
• NIC men’s basketball team is banned from post-season play for three years
• Three-year probation for the Athletic Department
• Ten game suspension for head coach Corey Symons
• A minimum $30,000 fine
• Removal of four scholarships from the men’s basketball program for each of the next three years

The NWAC penalized NIC with sanctions after it found three key violations:

• Using NIC booster club funds used to pay for apartment housing for the men’s basketball team
• Using NIC booster club funds used to pay for meals and entertainment for the men’s basketball team
• Operating basketball camps that do not comply with the NWAC camp policy

The NWAC listed these violations and their findings in a report sent to NIC President Rick MacLennan on June 3. Along with these violations, the committee listed several other concerns and potential violations including:

• A coach listed as a co-signer on a student-athlete apartment lease
• A coach collected money from the players that were residents of the apartment, and placed the money in a personal bank account that paid the rent
• Student-athletes being classified as “IN STATE, / non-district” regardless of the home high school district listed on their student accounts
• Unclear and abnormal work-study hours for student athletes

NIC President Rick MacLennan has fought against the sanctions that he believes are “excessive” and “will cause significant harm” to the program. In a letter to the editor run in the Coeur d’Alene Press on August 18, MacLennon reaffirmed that NIC did violate league rules, and pleaded with the community to continue supporting NIC athletics.

NIC refuted the findings of the report in an appeal by President MacLennan on July 3. In the appeal, MacLennan also expressed his concern over the NWAC investigation having interviewed former NIC wrestling head coach Pat Whitcomb, who was terminated in January during an investigation over academic integrity violations.

“It is troubling to us that the Committee met with an outwardly hostile, recently terminated coach immediately prior to its investigation, and did so without informing NIC, particularly since the interview notes and the report neglected to make reference or otherwise take into account the bias of this witness,”  MacLennan said in the appeal. “This raises the question of whether the report is unfairly biased. Many of those findings and the related sanctions which do not comport with the facts, appear to be a reflection of this bias.”

In a statement to the NIC community on August 13, MacLennan said the appeal was unsuccessful and confirmed that the NWAC decided to uphold the sanctions.

“I accept responsibility for the practices and behaviors that have led us to this place with the league,” MacLennan stated. “The college will agree to the sanctions NWAC has placed on NIC, and I am committed, as is VP Graydon Stanley, to working with the league and its member institutions to foster a positive and collegial future for us all.”