UW-La Crosse is not one of the approximately 115 NCAA Division III schools that will participate in a two-year pilot program for drug testing starting next year, but there is a reason for that: UW-L already has a program.

The NCAA’s initiative, reported Friday by The Associated Press, comes on the heels of the December arrests of two UW-Stout football players, who were caught with steroids and recreational drugs. The program was being planned before the Stout incident.
UW-L athletic director Joe Baker established a drug program in 2000, two years into his tenure. It remains the only such program on the books among the nine WIAC schools. In fact, the AP reported that just 13 percent of all NCAA Division III schools have their own drug testing program in place.

That’s why Baker didn’t feel the need to volunteer for the NCAA’s pilot program.

“Because of what we’re already doing, I felt it’s not something we needed,” Baker said. “We’ve been through the process of putting (a program) together, having the trial period and having it in place and I wasn’t sure what they wanted of us or what the program was trying to do.”

The difference between UW-L’s program and the NCAA’s pilot program is that if a UW-L athlete is tested positive, he or she faces suspension, while the pilot program is for statistical reporting purposes only — names are not associated with test results and there is no punishment for a positive test.

Still, Baker believes the NCAA’s program is a good step forward, especially in light of the situation at Stout.

“Unfortunately, everybody gets swept with the same brush,” Baker said. “People think that if it’s there it must be here, too.”

Joel Badzinski can be reached at (608) 791-8402 or joel.badzinski@lee.net.

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