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By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State, as the headline suggests, has been a recent victim of what appears to be a media circus surrounding the school’s athletic program.

Just hours after SJSU lost to UC Davis 44-38, a columnist at the Reno Gazette-Journal suggested that the Mountain West Conference should get rid of SJSU.

More recently, SJSU baseball was placed on a two-year probation by the NCAA for practice time violations under former head coach Jason Hawkins, who was also given a one-year show cause penalty. Hawkins was accused of asking players to participate in voluntary activities before and after practices. Hawkins then listed those activities on the daily practice schedules, which led players to believe their presences were mandatory. Other coaches observed some of those activities and held practices that ran longer than their scheduled times.

Hawkins, as you may already know, resigned in February after being placed on administrative leave.

SJSU athletics director Marie Tuite issued a statement Thursday.

Tuite said, “We are committed to adhering to NCAA and conference rules and self-reporting when we learn of violations. We have a comprehensive rules education program, and we emphasize the importance of having a culture of compliance in our program at all times. … The violations were isolated to our baseball program and occurred under the previous coaching staffs during the 2017 and 2018 academic years. The violations were discovered and self-reported by the institution.”

Tuite added, “We will continue to emphasize rules education, compliance and self-reporting of violations in our program. Compliance will always be at the core and a guiding principle of everything we do in our athletics program.”

The NCAA Committee of Infractions reportedly commended SJSU for immediately acknowledging and accepting responsibility and imposing meaningful corrective measures.

While I’m glad SJSU acknowledged and accepted responsibility, things like this should’ve have happened in the first place. As a SJSU alumna, I’ll always stand by the Blue and Gold, but enough is enough. I hate to say it, but it’s starting to become more clear as time passes by. And, it’s not really about the wins and championship seasons right now; but the culture–especially within the sports teams–has to change sooner than later.

Former men’s basketball coach Dave Wojcik also resigned just months after the 2016-17 season following an investigation along with a lawsuit filed by a former player.

In case you need a refresher, Jean Prioleau is the current head coach for SJSU men’s basketball. Prioleau, however, isn’t much better. Prioleau just racked up a 4-26 (1-17 MW) record last season, and will enter his second season as a head coach this coming November. Like Wojcik, Prioleau’s abilities aren’t just limited to the court.

According to an inside source, Prioleau has attracted tons of haters, but for the wrong reasons. Last year, SJSU star Ryan Welage (now with the Xavier Musketeers) wasn’t introduced during a sports-related banquet, and Welage was never properly acknowledged, despite receiving a phone call.

I don’t think the MWC is going to part ways with SJSU anytime soon, but I do think the Spartans should focus on picking up wins and positively shifting core values in all men’s and women’s sports.