Wisconsin receives probation

MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin was put on five years' probation and lost some football and basketball scholarships Tuesday after an investigation found a shoe store gave unadvertised discounts to athletes.

The NCAA, however, did not strip the school of any postseason awards, including its 2000 trip to the men's Final Four.

The university disciplined itself in April. But the NCAA decided to levy additional penalties because it was the school's third major rules violation since 1994 and the number of athletes involved, said Tom Yeager, a member of the NCAA Division I Infractions Committee.

"This wasn't one or two athletes and someone bought them a Diet Coke. This was hundreds of kids involving thousands of dollars. That's significant," Yeager said.

The university had already put itself on three years' probation, penalized itself $150,000 and stripped five scholarships over three years -- four from football and one from men's basketball.

The NCAA reduced the number of football scholarships the university can offer in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 school years from 25 to 20. It also ordered the school to cut a men's basketball scholarship in 2003-04.

A report in the Wisconsin State Journal prompted the university's investigation that found 157 athletes in 14 sports violated NCAA rules by accepting at least $23,000 in unadvertised discounts from The Shoe Box, a store 25 miles from Madison in Black Earth.