College presidents who dream of building powerhouse sports teams should read the new report on the basketball program at Binghamton University. Based on an investigation overseen by Judith Kaye, New York State’s former chief judge, it shows how a runaway sports program can poison campus life, make a mockery of academic values and leave the administration’s reputation in ruins.

The roots of the scandal go back to the late-1990s when Binghamton decided to move from the mildly competitive world of Division III sports to the win-at-all-cost Division I, where too often schools recruit players who are unprepared for college and keep them eligible with padded grades. The scandal became fully public last fall when the university dismissed a longtime instructor after she accused the athletic department of pressuring her to show athletes preferential treatment. The trustees appointed Judge Kaye to investigate.

The report shows a basketball program  and a university  that lost its sense of academic values or honesty. Players who transferred in were given credit for courses with names like Bowling I, Theories of Softball and Sports Officiating. In its quest for star players, the school admitted several transfer students with academic or legal problems. Three were subsequently arrested; one fled the country while on bail.

The coaches seemed more interested in covering up infractions than in disciplining troubled players. In one especially vivid text message, an assistant coach discusses helping to pay the fine of a player who was charged with stealing condoms at a Wal-Mart.