On Friday, the day of his arrest in Denton, North Texas, basketball player Keith Frazier was the subject of a New York Times investigation which details how the struggling star managed to graduate from Dallas Kimball and get into SMU despite a long history of academic problems.
Frazier was the central figure in the NCAA investigation that led to the sanctions against the Mustangs, which included a postseason ban. The NCAA determined that a former SMU basketball secretary had taken an online course for Frazier and that coach Larry Brown had initially lied to investigators. Frazier was averaging 11.9 points in 10 games when he left the team in early January and transferred to North Texas.
Frazier was arrested early Friday after Denton police received a call about a disturbance at a local bar. A warrant check revealed an outstanding arrest warrant issued by Irving and Frazier was arrested and transported to the Denton City Jail. While he was being processed at the jail, a call from Irving police came in stating that the warrant had already been taken care of and the fine paid. Frazier was later released.
According to the New York Times, “Frazier’s tumultuous rise and fall through the ranks of basketball schools and universities opens the door to the corruption and neglect that mark the academic lives of too many elite athletes. That pervasive corruption extends from Division I universities to high schools and the amateur ranks.”
“There are fake addresses for players, falsified report cards, and illegal recruiting. In one terrible case, Dallas high school coaches invented fake addresses and hid top basketball players in a poorly guarded house. Two teenage friends got into a fight, and one of them died. … But no adult, not even, it seems, his own mother, seems to have shown more than a passing interest in his education. As long as he was caressing the hoops and making high, irregular jumps toward the basket, all was well.”
“Frazier’s academic career was marked by failure. His high school grades mysteriously and rapidly improved whenever his playing eligibility was on the line. He probably had too many absences and failing grades to graduate from high school. And SMU’s top officials ignored their own professors, who recommended that Frazier not be admitted to SMU, an academically challenging university.
The Times details how former SMU assistant coach Ulrich Maligi brought Frazier over from Kimball:
“Maligi exchanged heated words with (Royce) Johnson, Kimball’s basketball coach, the report said. Do you realize, Maligi told the coach, that SMU’s compliance office has threatened to dismiss Frazier? He needs a higher grade point average. Can Frazier improve his grades in science, English, math and history?
“Coach Johnson had reason to fear the wrath of SMU. A high school coach who can’t place his stars on a top college team risks seeing his pipeline of young talent dry up.
“A day or two later, an assistant coach and a Kimball teaching assistant pressured Frazier’s teachers to raise his grades. Richard Dennis, a physics teacher, was so troubled that he sought the advice of a school counselor.
“He asked me what I thought about changing the grade,” the supervisor later told Dallas schools investigators. “I told him he shouldn’t change the grade because Frazier was a high-profile student and it could cost him his job.”
“The physics teacher stood his ground. The other teachers said they did the same thing — and yet, somehow, Frazier passed all their classes. An assistant coach retrieved Frazier’s grade sheet and hand-delivered it to Kimball’s central office, stopping to cross out and change his physics grade. A school secretary then sent it to SMU
“This,” Dallas schools investigators noted, “resulted in a fraudulent report.”
According to the Times, “SMU’s provost, in a move that surprised committee members, overturned their decision. The provost explained that he had made an “extraordinary exception” based “on the broader perspective and needs of the university.”
Dennis A. Foster, a literature professor and former SMU faculty chairman, told the Times that faculty members were angry about the university’s handling of the case.
“If athletes are participating in most of the classes, if they’re taking private tutoring, we’ll take care of them and make sure they’re successful and get a degree,” Foster told the newspaper. “But some athletes have so little internalized good study habits that even that’s difficult.”
More than a dozen coaches and staff members, including Johnson, Kimball’s coach, were fired after DISD investigations.
According to the Times, “Two of the official reports castigated Kimball High School Principal Earl Jones for his lack of leadership, weak management controls and failure to recognize that his coaches were going crazy. He survived and kept his job.”
“In January 2015, Maligi announced he was taking an “indefinite leave of absence.” Three days later, the university announced that the NCAA was investigating its basketball program. Maligi resigned. He is now the national recruiting director for John Lucas Enterprises. …”
After SMU received its NCAA sanctions in September, Brown called a team meeting. According to the Times, “Frazier stood up and, in a loud, trembling voice, insisted that Brown tell everyone the truth: It was Frazier’s fault. He ran out of the room in tears. By early winter, Frazier had lost his starting position and was coming off the bench. This was not his basketball dream.”
Frazier announced his intention to sign with North Texas on Jan. 20.
