Senior guard Andy Robinson of the men's basketball team has been suspended for the first three games of the upcoming season. On April 17, Robinson posted a Facebook Marketplace listing soliciting assistance with a paper and assigned questions. According to the post, Robinson was willing to pay up to $40 for the assignment to be completed.
The statement attributed to Robinson's account read, "I am paying anybody who have read the book 'there are no children here' by Alex Kotlowitz $30-40 which in some classes you have to read at UB (even more money if you have to read the book a little more!!) to write a 3-4 page paper, on a couple questions which was assigned."
Robinson completed the assignment in question and later issued a statement, apologizing for his wrongdoing and taking full responsibility for his actions.
Robinson was originally suspended from the team indefinitely and the team collectively made the decision to deactivate each of their personal Facebook profiles. Robinson will now miss the first three games of the 2008-09 season for his actions.
"Andy Robinson has been suspended for the first three games of the regular season for his solicitation of academic fraud," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said in a statement. "He is back practicing with the team after serving a suspension in the spring. He has done everything asked of him from the University, Division of Athletics and men's basketball program to atone for his actions and has learned and grown from his mistake. Andy had a successful summer session in the classroom and we look forward to a successful senior season on the court."
Michael Ryan, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, led the investigation of Robinson's solicitation but deemed that the actions taken by Robinson's instructor and the Athletic department were satisfactory. According to Ryan, the decision to suspend Robinson was made by the Athletics department. No other sanctions have been placed on Robinson by Ryan's office in regards to his academic standing.
"Basically what I wanted to ascertain was two things," Ryan said. "One that there was due process being followed appropriately and also to investigate the matter so that I understood what the nature of the issues was, in case there anything that was necessary to be done or initiated at my level. But I had satisfied myself that the instructor and the division of athletics were aware of the situation and were handling it appropriately."
Since the incident, Athletics has begun taking steps to ensure that this incident does not occur again. Special emphasis has been placed on the department's new social networking policy at team orientations that have all taken place over the last two weeks.
"If any of our student-athletes needed proof of the potential risks of using those kinds of sites and what you put on them and that they can be seen by the whole world, they've certainly seen it first-hand now from one of their own," said Paul Vecchio, assistant athletic director. "From that perspective I think we have their attention probably more than we've ever had it. In the end, hopefully, this will be a great learning experience for all of our student-athletes."
Robinson, an All-Mid-American Conference Honorable Mention at the end of the season, led the Bulls in scoring, averaging 13.1 points per game. He averaged 26.1 minutes per game, second on the team only to fellow senior guard Greg Gamble. Robinson also led the team in steals with 53, becoming only the third Bull since 1991 to tally at least 50 steals in consecutive seasons.
Buffalo finished their 2007-08 campaign with an overall record of 10-20 and a 3-13 mark in the MAC. The Bulls were eliminated in the first round of the MAC tournament in March by Miami (OH).
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
