By Pete Borello

Three weeks after Foothill College suspended its men’s basketball program for this season for recruiting violations, the Coast Conference penalized the Los Altos Hills school for the indiscretions.

Foothill’s punishment for violating recruiting rules involving agents and subsidization includes forfeiting all its games this year and last season, when it reached the final eight of the state playoffs. In addition, seven players have been ruled ineligible for this season and the school’s entire athletic program has been put on probation for three years.

Coast Conference commissioner Dale Murray said if any athletic team at Foothill commits a violation during this probationary period, the penalty is “the loss of postseason for at least that sport, minimum.”

Foothill athletic director Sue Gatlin self-reported the recruiting violations to the conference Nov. 20, and then, along with college president Dr. Bernadine Fong, quickly decided to suspend the program for at least this season.

The team’s guilt and ensuing punishment were not officially determined until a Dec. 10 Coast Conference meeting attended by representatives from 13 of the conference’s 16 colleges.

After looking over what Murray called “overwhelming evidence” provided by Foothill, they unanimously agreed that the men’s basketball team violated two articles of the recruiting bylaw established by the Commission on Athletics. The COA governs community college athletics in California.

This marks the second time in three years Foothill’s men’s basketball team has been penalized for recruiting violations, which Murray said was taken into account when the conference handed out its punishment.

The latest violations, according to Murray, involve Articles 2.2 and 2.11 of the COA’s recruiting bylaws.

Article 2.2, titled Representatives and Agents, prohibits “anyone to act as a representative or agent of the college; i.e., non-employees, volunteers, alumni, boosters, relatives, friends, students and any others speaking for or on behalf of the college and its programs.”

Article 2.11, titled Subsidizing and Inducements, prohibits “any manner of financial assistance for a prospect’s athletic services.”

Neither Gatlin nor coach Todd Petersen would comment on exactly how Foothill broke these rules, but the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week that it involves foreign players who received housing and tuition from a non-profit foundation established by Tariq Abdul-Wahad, an NBA player with the Denver Nuggets.

Abdul-Wahad’s brother, Samuel Saint-Jean, played at Foothill the past two seasons. Abdul-Wahad (formerly Olivier Saint-Jean) is from France, the homeland of seven of Foothill’s players.

Murray refused to answer when asked if the conference had been investigating the Foothill team prior to the school’s admission.

However, he did admit some coaches approached him with their concerns about the team’s French connection.

“I think anytime you’ve got a roster of 15 and seven are from a foreign country, it raises the eyebrows of other coaches,” Murray said. “It sends up the red flag.”

Foothill had five French players on its team last year.

Petersen declined to comment on the conference ruling against his team, though in a Town Crier story published Nov. 28 he said, “I don’t believe there was any kind of recruiting violation. This has to do with an entirely different issue.”

Gatlin would not comment on Petersen’s status as coach - only saying “Todd’s a good man” - nor would she confirm reports that assistant coach Keith Moss has been fired.

Petersen, 33, continues to work at Foothill as a physical education instructor. He’s also busy trying to help his players transfer to other schools.

“My major concern right now is the players and finding them places to play,” Petersen said last week, “and that will continue to be my major concern.”

As for the future of men’s basketball at Foothill, Gatlin said the college won’t decide until January whether or not it will field a team for the 2002-03 season.

Murray said he hopes the school does decide to play men’s basketball next year.

“We’d like it back, not only to fill out the schedule but because it’s a vital part of the athletic programs at all the schools,” he said.