Washington Penalties May Be Compounded : College football: NCAA proposes banning Huskies from television for 1994 season.

SEATTLE —  The NCAA has proposed taking the Washington football team off television in 1994, another major blow for a beleaguered program that received a two-year bowl ban from the Pacific-10 Conference last year, the school said Friday.

Washington officials said they plan to challenge the NCAA’s proposed additional penalties.

“We’re emotionally very upset,” Washington President William Gerberding told a news conference attended by Athletic Director Barbara Hedges and football Coach Jim Lambright. “I’m extremely upset.”

The Huskies found out about their new punishment in a letter dated April 27.

“In determining these proposed penalties, the suggested finding of lack of institutional control was considered with the other violations already admitted,” said the letter signed by David Swank, chairman of the NCAA Infractions Committee.

“It’s a disappointment to me when you’re expecting something positive instead of negative,” Lambright said. “But it’s just a proposed penalty, that’s all.”

Hedges said she thought Washington had a chance to convince the NCAA to rescind its proposed TV ban.

“The important point is this is a new process. It’s very new,” she said. “I don’t think you can rely on what has happened in the past.”

In addition, the NCAA informed the Huskies it was proposing putting Washington’s football team on probation for the 1995 season. The additional probation would be through Dec. 31, 1995.

However, the additional one-year probation does not mean that much--other than to warn the Huskies strongly to keep their program clean--since Washington still would be eligible for the 1996 Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

The NCAA also proposed the disassociation of Husky boosters James Kenyon, Roy Moore, Clint Mead and Jim Heckman from the athletic programs for an additional year to the summer of 1996.

Washington will challenge the new penalties before the NCAA June 5 in Kansas City.

The Huskies said they expected to hear the results of their challenge two to three weeks after appearing before the Infractions Committee in June.

The NCAA told the Huskies it found a lack of institutional control with their summer jobs program in Los Angeles.

The new NCAA proposed punishment--on top of the Pac-10’s penalties last Aug. 22 that caused Coach Don James’ same-day resignation--surprised Washington officials.

Lambright had to tell his four team captains, including prize running back Napoleon Kaufman, the bad news. The other co-captains are tight end Mark Bruener, and linebackers David Killpatrick and Donovan Schmidt.

Kaufman, a senior-to-be, elected to stay at Washington for his final season, passing up the NFL draft in order to improve his draft status with the pros.

Washington expected a lighter sentence from the NCAA than it got from its own conference.

“I’m an optimistic person,” Lambright said. “I kind of like to think that things are going to go right. The general feeling of the captains was one of concern first and then understanding that the legal means have to take their course.”

In August, the Pac-10 slapped Washington with a two-year bowl ban for NCAA rules violations and took away the school’s football TV revenues to the tune of about $1.3 million for the 1993 season. Washington also lost 10 scholarships in 1994 and 1995.

The Pac-10 did allow Washington to play on TV last season and the Huskies had five of their games televised--against Stanford, Ohio State, Cal, UCLA and USC.

Among the violations found by the Pac-10 were improper loans to athletes, free meals provided to recruits and improper employment of athletes by boosters. The conference also cited a lack of institutional control over funds provided to students hosting recruits.

Hedges said an additional year without TV revenue would cost the Huskies another $1.3 million.

There was a question if the NCAA can legally take the Huskies off TV next season because ABC-TV already has announced it plans to regionally televise Washington’s games against USC in Los Angeles Sept. 3 and against Ohio State in Seattle Sept. 10.

The NCAA might have to put off the television ban until the 1995 season if the TV contracts don’t allow it to act against Washington next season.

Washington posted a 7-4 record, including a 5-3 Pac-10 mark, last season under Lambright, James’ former longtime defensive coordinator, after going to three consecutive Rose Bowls under James.

James coached at Washington for 18 seasons. He is now retired from coaching. In 1991, Washington went 12-0 and earned the national championship in the USA Today-CNN coaches poll.