UW-Stout to begin drug testing after players' steroid bust, By: Ryan J. Foley

February 9, 2007

MADISON — The University of Wisconsin-Stout said Thursday it will require athletes to undergo random drug testing after December police searches netted steroids and other drugs from the homes of two football players.

All the football team's 100 players will be tested this spring for commonly abused drugs such as cocaine and marijuana, and a quarter will be randomly tested for steroids, UW-Stout said. Players on other teams will undergo random drug testing starting next fall.

The announcement comes one day after a local prosecutor said he was considering expanding an investigation into steroid use among players on the school's NCAA Division III football team.

``You've got a couple of people associated with the football program in possession of steroids. I just wonder how much more extensive it is than that,'' Dunn County District Attorney James Peterson said. ``I'm very concerned about the proliferation of steroids in sports and the serious long-term side effects for those who use them.''

A committee formed by UW-Stout Chancellor Charles Sorensen in December, the day after police arrested football players Luke Steffen and Nicholas OrRico, recommended the new policies on Thursday. The arrests startled UW-Stout, a school of 8,400 students in the western Wisconsin city of Menomonie, 70 miles east of Minneapolis.

Police seized three bottles of liquid steroids and other drugs from the home of Steffen, a senior linebacker who led the team in tackles last year.

Steffen, of Greenwood, Wis., told police that people used his house ``to use, buy, sell, package and store various controlled substances'' including marijuana, cocaine and steroids, according to a police report.

Authorities also seized marijuana and one container of liquid steroids from the home of OrRico, a junior linebacker from Lodi, Wis. And a former player who left the team in 2005, John Henry Freeman III, was arrested after police said he twice sold cocaine to an informant.

Steffen, OrRico and Freeman each face a variety of drug charges and have pleaded not guilty.

University spokesman Doug Mell acknowledged the drug tests, administered when spring practices begin, will not catch football players who might have used steroids last season.

``The point is to make sure that when athletes step on the field from here on in they will be drug free and everybody can be assured of that,'' he said.

All school athletes will be subject to random tests for steroids and other drugs and be required to attend sessions on the harmful effects of drug abuse starting next fall. School officials also will administer tests to players based on reasonable suspicion of drug use.

UW-Stout said its new policies will be implemented after reviews by university lawyers and another advisory committee. NCAA Division III policies only require drug testing for athletes who qualify for championship competition, such as football playoffs.

Peterson, the prosecutor, has so far not filed charges relating to the seizure of steroids. He said he intended to do so unless he could reach plea agreements with Steffen and OrRico. He declined comment on whether they were cooperating with the probe but said his goal was to learn where the steroids came from.

The arrests have led the Blue Devils football program, which finished last season 3-7 after losing its final four games, into turmoil.

Todd Strop resigned last month after three seasons as coach. Two of his assistants also have departed. The school named assistant coach Duey Naatz as interim head coach while it searches for a permanent replacement to lead the team, which competes in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.