Double secret probation

McGarity spells out in a letter to Shane Beamer why the school is keeping most of Beamer’s sweet bowl loot:

“While you claim that you did not utilize or further disclose the information, you knew or should have known that Mr. [Tommy] Elrod was not authorized to disclose the information to you, that it could provide a competitive advantage to Virginia Tech, and that your communications with Mr. Elrod were inappropriate and unethical,” McGarity wrote in the letter. “When questioned about these events by University of Georgia officials, you made representations about material facts that are inaccurate, although it is not clear that your misstatements were deliberate.”

Beamer’s contract requires him to conduct himself “at all times in a sportsmanlike manner,” and “in a manner to uphold the highest standards of conduct and decorum expected for the administration, faculty and staff of the University and its Athletic Programs, including on campus and in the community.” In that, McGarity expected Beamer be totally truthful “in any dealing with the University of Georgia and Athletic Association officials,” and any additional behavior of this type could result in “significant disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”

If the fine is strictly over not relaying all the facts about what occurred with Elrod when asked by Georgia staff, that’s one thing, I guess, although $25K seems a little stiff for something non-deliberate in nature.  But if any of the hit is over what Beamer did before he was on staff in Athens, that’s more than a little bizarre.

In that light, I wonder where negative recruiting falls on the McGarity Scale of conducting oneself “at all times in a sportsmanlike manner”.