San Diego State coaches expect the memo and pamphlet to arrive in their mailboxes any day now, the latest reminder of the NCAA's prohibition on gambling.

The rule is straightforward – "a no-brainer," softball coach Kathy Van Wyk said – but a little prompt here and there is always good, especially after two recent events that got national attention.

University of Washington football coach Rick Neuheisel was given his notice of termination yesterday and has until June 26 to appeal the move after revelations that he participated in NCAA basketball pools the past two years. And a mistrial was declared last week in the case of former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson, who allegedly bet on pro and college games, including ones in which he played.

"Sometimes when things happen like this on the national scene . . . it's educational and very helpful," football coach Tom Craft said. "You know what the rules are, and you go by them. But it's a reminder now . . . Things like this come up and they get everyone refocused."

Jenny Bramer, hired as SDSU's assistant athletic director for compliance two months ago, is the one who packaged the memo and pamphlet for delivery to her colleagues. She said it only makes sense to use current events to jog the memories of those in the athletic department.

NCAA bylaws require all members of an athletic department – from student-athletes to assistant equipment managers – to refrain from involvement in any sort of sports gambling activity. This includes participation in any of the innumerable pools surrounding the NCAA basketball tournament.

Athletic department staffers said former athletic director Rick Bay sent out a memo each year reminding employees not to participate in any pools. To be safe, Bay's memo would advise, it is best not to even participate in contests for no stakes.

The NCAA allows athletic department personnel to participate in what NCAA enforcement officer Bill Saum called a "bracket-selection contest" in which no prizes are involved.

"We would encourage everyone to do it that way," said Saum, the NCAA's director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities. "We believe the pool (with a money prize) is a form of sports wagering. It's certainly an entryway to further sports wagering and other factions of organized crime. We don't think it's a good activity for young people. It's different when you're talking about responsible adults wagering one dollar. We have to take a strong stand on all forms of sports wagering."

Saum's point about adults wagering small sums of money certainly must resonate with law enforcement officials, who look the other way as millions of people nationwide participate in NCAA pools each year.

Craft was one of several members of the SDSU athletic department in Seattle for an NCAA compliance seminar last week when the Neuheisel story broke there. Craft lamented the loss of privacy in the changing culture of celebrity, of which college coaches are a part.

"People have to be accountable because we're in the public eye," he said. "We're susceptible to people making accusations about us and forming opinions . . . We've seen it quite a bit lately. Some people have acted like they have in the past, and what was acceptable and you could get away with in the past is harder to get away with now."

Craft said he does not have a problem with the limits placed on him.

"These are the rules," Craft said. "It does restrict some of the things we can do. But when we accept the job, we accept the responsibility to live within a set of guidelines."

Van Wyk said she considers the gambling ban appropriate for minor-sport coaches because of their proximity to student-athletes who participate in games on which bets are placed. She said it is important anyone associated with intercollegiate athletics avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

"Especially now, considering for us right now that we (at SDSU) are under the microscope in a huge way," Van Wyk said, referring to the fact the school is on NCAA probation for two years for infractions within the football program, and to recent developments that have left the department without three of its top administrators. "I think we absolutely have to be held to a higher standard.