Semi-Tough Justice

When the Big Eight collegiate athletic conference discovered that the high school transcripts of two football players at the University of Oklahoma had been altered two years ago, the case upended big-time college football. The Sooners--one of the nation's best teams--were required to forfeit eight of their 1972 victories and the conference championship. They were also hit with two seasons of N.C.A.A. "probation," which barred Oklahoma from bowl games. The two youngsters involved, Quarterback Kerry Jackson and Center Michael Phillips, were suspended from the team for a year, even though they were cleared of complicity in the hanky-panky.

Last week the man who altered the transcripts was brought to justice--in a manner of speaking. Joe Woolley, former coach at Ball High School in Galveston, Texas, where Jackson and Phillips were students, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge. He had upped their class ranking, said Woolley, simply to make them eligible for athletic scholarships under N.C.A.A. rules. The possible maximum sentence was $1,000 and a year in jail. Woolley was fined all of $25. District Attorney Ron Wilson, who recommended the wrist-slap approach, explained, "I can't think of a more laudable reason to do wrong than to try to help a young kid." Besides, said the D.A., "what more can we do to the man than has already been done?" What has been done is to move Woolley from Ball High to a job as an assistant coach of the Houston Oilers.

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