UH loses appeal, 2002 national volleyball title

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The NCAA has upheld its decision to strip the University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team of its 2002 national championship because it used a player with professional experience.

Former Warrior Costas Theocharidis says he "never had an agent ... never took money ... never had a contract." Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Warriors will be allowed to keep their school-purchased championship rings, UH athletic director Herman Frazier said.

"At this point, we have to just take our medicine and move on," Frazier said.

In September 2003, the NCAA voided the Warriors' 2002 championship after it was found that former Warrior outside hitter Costas Theocharidis, a two-time national Player of the Year, played in more than 20 matches with a professional team in Greece before enrolling at UH in August 1999.

"That's ridiculous," Theo-charidis said of the NCAA's decision to reject UH's appeal. "I never had an agent. I never took money. I never had a contract. I'm not a professional."

The NCAA's ruling, in fact, was not based on whether Theocharidis was a paid athlete.

The NCAA prohibits a player from being a member of a professional team, even if he did not receive money.

UH coach Mike Wilton said the school's investigation found Theocharidis indeed did not have an agent, sign a contract or receive money for playing volleyball before enrolling at UH

"He was truthful," Wilton said of those queries. "But as to playing with professionals, that was a different deal."

Frazier said Theocharidis was asked three times — in the spring of 2002 and two times last summer — if he played on a team that included professional athletes, and each time he denied it.

In July 2003, Frazier recalled, Theocharidis admitted he was teammates with professionals in Greece.

When asked if the student-athlete — Frazier and Wilton did not identify Theocharidis because of privacy laws — had misled or was misinformed about the rule against playing with professional teammates, Frazier said, "I think of the two, I would go with the former — misled."

Wilton said: "Whether he understood what it meant, you'd have to ask him."

Theocharidis insisted he did not mislead UH officials. "Why would I deceive them if I didn't play professionally?" he said. "I'm not a professional. This is wrong."

In May 2003, the NCAA received a complaint about Theocharidis' amateur status. The NCAA notified UH, which started an investigation.

University of Hawai'i athletic director Herman Frazier tells reporters: "We've exhausted all of our appeals. This is it for us." Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The NCAA did not punish UH for the 2002 regular season; thus, Theocharidis' achievements will remain in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation record books. But the achievements of the Warriors and Theocharidis in the NCAA championship tournament were voided.

UH officials then appealed the punishment — the stripping of the title, not Theocharidis' guilt — to the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions.

Jan Gouveia, a lawyer who filed the appeal, said UH's argument centered on a language change in the NCAA bylaws. The original bylaw noted that a team "shall" be stripped of its championship for using an ineligible player. In the revision, the bylaw was changed to "may" be stripped of the title.

UH took about two months to file an official appeal.

Frazier was told yesterday morning — six months after the appeal was received — of the NCAA's decision.

"We've exhausted all of our appeals," Frazier said. "This is it for us."

Frazier said UH hired an outside law firm to represent the school on the Mainland. Those fees, plus the airfares to argue the case in Phoenix, cost the school "probably less than $20,000," Frazier said.

Frazier said UH president Evan Dobelle approved pursuing the appeal. "We had the green light to continue to pursue it all the way until the end," Frazier said.

Theocharidis said: "I'm just very sad about what happened. I'm very disappointed that the committee didn't overturn the preceding ruling. I'm very disappointed the University of Hawai'i and the state of Hawai'i are involved in the whole process."

Dejan Miladinovic, the Warriors' middle blocker in 2002, said yesterday's ruling "doesn't change much. I really didn't think we had a shot. ... That's fine. It's not fair, but you learn to deal with it."

He said he remains close to Theocharidis. "I speak to him every night," Miladinovic said. "I don't have anything against him. I'm fine with the punishment. My only thing is if they strip our title, they should strip 10 more titles. That's my feeling. They should dig (into other programs). They might find something. I wasn't pleased with their singling out Hawai'i as the only one."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.