UNLV on alert with compliance

Jim Livengood never gets a great night's sleep.

The UNLV athletic director knows danger is lurking in modern-day college athletics, and he didn't need the scandal that has rocked the University of Miami to remind him. Or the ones at Ohio State, Oregon, North Carolina, Southern California and Auburn.

"I worry about this every day," Livengood said Thursday from his office at the Thomas & Mack Center. "It's not going to go away, and you can't take anything for granted."

For UNLV's administration and coaches, the mandate is simple -- don't try to match the Hurricanes infraction for infraction. But to achieve that is a round-the-clock battle. From president Neal Smatresk to Livengood, to senior associate AD for compliance Eric Tolliver to the school's coaches and athletes, keeping the Nevin Shapiros of the world at arm's length requires a team effort.

"It starts with a culture of compliance," said Tolliver, who has worked as the school's head of NCAA compliance since 1998. "Everyone is involved in the process to make sure it works."

UNLV football coach Bobby Hauck said creating an awareness is a key to avoiding trouble.

"You always hope that through your compliance department, you can educate your boosters and your supporters that they're not helping the program by doing something illegal," Hauck said. "And you hope that your players understand -- and you can teach them to have enough integrity to understand -- you don't take anything from anyone anytime. That's the way it is to be a Division I collegiate athlete.

"It's in front of them more than just before every season. As coaches or as players, your integrity can be tested every day. If you're a kid who's got nothing and somebody's offering you something, it's hard to turn it down. But that's what they have to do. That's part of the job description."

First-year basketball coach Dave Rice said when he saw the Miami report on Yahoo! Sports, he was troubled and concerned. But he said he also believes UNLV is doing everything it can to play within the rules.

"The key is education," Rice said. "Making sure everyone knows the rules and understands them. I have a lot of confidence in Eric Tolliver, and a system is in place to make sure we're doing what we're supposed to."

To that end, the school holds an annual meeting with its student-athletes to remind them of their compliance obligations. This year's meeting will be held Monday, and Livengood admitted the sense of urgency is heightened in the wake of the Miami scandal, in which 72 athletes allegedly took improper benefits from Shapiro.

Shapiro is serving a 20-year prison sentence for his hatching of a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $930 million.

"Vigilance is the key," Livengood said. "We spend a great deal of time on the education process of compliance. You have to make sure everyone understands the rules and what the consequences are if they don't."

Especially boosters. Livengood, who has 31 years' experience in athletic administration, has turned away potential donors during his career because of his concerns they might cross the line like Shapiro did at Miami.

"I can tell when someone is looking for more than great parking and great seats," he said. "I ask all of our donors, 'What do you want to get out of it?' "

For Livengood, he walks a fine line. A major part of his job is to generate donations to an athletic department that desperately needs funding to operate. But he can't risk what happened at Miami in the pursuit of financial solvency -- and he won't.

"We won't compromise on doing things within the rules," Livengood said. "Without integrity, you have nothing. You have to navigate carefully when working with donors. If they don't share your philosophy, you can't afford to have them involved."

Hauck said the greatest danger for infiltration from the outside is when he is not around his players.

"The biggest concern, I think, with coaches is what goes on when you don't have control when they're (players) away," he said. "You have no control and no way of knowing what's going on. I think that's the biggest concern in general for coaches. Again, I'm not speaking to Miami, but there are things when you are not with your team and you have no way of knowing what's going on. There are 'X' number of hours every year I worry about that.

"The agent deal has become a major problem. You've heard a lot of guys rail on about that the last couple of years, and justifiably so. There are a lot of unscrupulous folks pushing these kids who don't care about the rules, that aren't necessarily boosters. So you worry about that.

"You see what's going on at North Carolina," Hauck continued. "You worry about all of it. Obviously as a coaching staff, you try to be as diligent as you can. There's no way to monitor 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You try your best."

Review-Journal reporter Mark Anderson contributed to this report. Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.