UPDATED: CMU AD Dave Heeke was not member of NCAA bowl licensing subcommittee when he attended Fiesta Bowl junket

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Central Michigan Athletics Director Dave Heeke has surfaced on a list of panel members tasked with determining the future of the Fiesta Bowl after attending a bowl-sponsored event in 2008.

According to an Associated Press article published Monday afternoon, Heeke was one of nine NCAA Postseason Bowl Licensing Subcommittee members that attended the 2008 “Fiesta Frolic,” an annual spring junket for Division 1 college football coaches, athletic directors and conference commissioners put on by the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, Ariz.

The committee is scheduled to meet this week in New Orleans to determine whether or not to revoke the license of the game after an internal investigation last month showed lavish amounts of money spent on extracurricular activities.

While each attendee of the junket is responsible for their own transportation, the bowl covers the costs of hotel expenses, two dinners and two rounds of golf for attendees and their spouses.

“I have been to the official bowl-sponsored function and it provided opportunities to interact with key people across the college football landscape,” Heeke said Tuesday in a prepared statement to Central Michigan Life. “I was able to interact with most of the athletic directors from the Mid-American Conference and the Big Ten regarding scheduling and television appearances along with taking part in the MAC football spring meetings. My attendance at this event has been very productive in improving the positioning of Central Michigan University Athletics.”

Heeke was not a member of the subcommittee at the time of the event. In an email to CM Life Tuesday, NCAA Committee Director Sharon Tufano said Heeke joined the Division 1 Football Issues Committee on Oct. 16, 2008.

The internal investigation also revealed that bowl officials have since changed the name of the event to the “Fiesta Bowl Spring College Football Seminars” to sound less like a “boondoggle.” This year’s event has been canceled, according to the AP report.

The Fiesta Bowl has been under fire since the report showed bowl CEO and president John Junker spent $33,000 on a lavish birthday celebration in Pebble Beach, Calif., $13,000 on a wedding and honeymoon for an aide, and $1,200 strip club tab on himself and two others. Junker has since been fired. Bowl officials are also linked to spending $45,000 in political contributions.

A final decision on the fate of the Fiesta Bowl’s future isn’t expected to be made until later in the spring.

“I am confident our committee can reach a just decision on the future of the Fiesta Bowl,” Heeke said in the statement. “… Our committee will look objectively at the facts that have transpired as we determine the bowl’s future.”

Other members of the licensing subcommittee in attendance at the 2008 event included Wisconsin Athletics Director Barry Alvarez, Colorado Athletics Director Mike Bohn, San Jose State Athletics Director Tom Bowen, Oregon State Athletics Director Bob DeCarolis, New Mexico Athletics Director Paul Krebs and Middle Tennessee State Chris Massaro.