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UT, A&M respond to supplement charges

Sounds like a sportswriter is trying to make a name for himself by reporting that Texas and A&M gave it's players power bars and caffeine. Alert the FBI!

Here's the full story (because site registration is BS):

After a newspaper reported that the two schools had bought nearly $120,000 of dietary supplements containing banned substances, the University of Texas said Monday that it had done nothing wrong and Texas A&M University promised to investigate and notify the NCAA.

I'm not concerned about any of it, DeLoss Dodds, UT's men's athletic director, said of Sunday's article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. In a prepared statement, Dodds added, The NCAA has advised us that this is not an NCAA reporting issue.

Meanwhile, Texas A&M will investigate and report itself to the NCAA for a secondary violation, said David Batson, A&M's director of athletic compliance.

According to the Star-Telegram report citing athletic department purchasing records, Texas A&M has spent nearly $30,000 on supplements that were banned by the NCAA in 2000 and Texas has bought $90,000 worth. Much of that money was used for drinks and energy bars that contain amino acids.

Amino acids may be the building blocks of life, but they do not appear to fit the NCAA's guidelines that schools may provide only non-muscle-building supplements in four classes: carbohydrate/electrolyte drinks, energy bars, carbohydrate boosters and vitamins and minerals. Under the rules, supplements also must have a protein content of less than 30 percent.

According to the Star-Telegram report, UT trainers spent nearly $49,000 on Promax energy bars and $29,500 on Metabolol II recovery drink, both of which contain added amino acids. UT also paid $282 for four cases of Jacked, an energy drink that contains caffeine, according to records cited by the newspaper.

Texas A&M, the newspaper reported, had bought eight products that contain banned muscle-building substances. The university's trainers also bought the appetite suppressant MNS Gold, which contains synephrine, a substance similar to ephedra.

Tina Bonci, co-director of athletics training/sports medicine at UT, said in a statement released by the university Monday that UT officials had received the NCAA's blessing years ago.

In 2000, we provided the NCAA a list of all products we were considering to distribute pursuant to the legislation, including the products in question, containing amino acids, Bonci said. The NCAA interpretation, based on the information they had at the time, stated that it was permissible to purchase and distribute those products to student-athletes.

UT officials said the supplements were safe and not harmful to athletes.

More than five years ago the NCAA became concerned about creatine and other controversial muscle builders that were being distributed widely by some schools. The 2000 rule, however, became more aimed at not allowing bigger and richer schools to gain a competitive advantage by distributing supplements, even ones that are presumed to be safe.

Batson said that, from the standpoint of complying with NCAA rules, the supplement issue had been flying beneath everyone's radar.

I hadn't heard any talk about it at all, Batson said. Most people provide the power bars or the energy bars. Nobody thought there's any concern.

One of the few such cases involved Virginia Tech, which last year admitted to a secondary violation of NCAA rules because its strength coach had arranged for players to buy creatine at a discount. The penalty in that case was minor.

Basically, what we've been told is just don't let it happen again, David Chambers, Virginia Tech's senior associate director of athletics for external affair, told the Roanoke Times & World News in November.

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