The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has placed the University of Maryland, College Park, on probation for one year for violations of bylaws in the football program involving improper recruiting contacts, inducements and unethical conduct on the part of an assistant football coach.

The committee found that an assistant football coach had, on several occasions, made impermissible in-person recruiting contacts and provided inducements to two prospects. Specifically, the assistant coach provided one prospect with amounts of cash ranging from $5 to $200 on five occasions. The assistant coach also provided other benefits to both prospects during a recruiting visit.

The committee also found that the assistant coach failed to deport himself with the generally recognized high standards normally associated with intercollegiate athletics and that he violated the provisions of ethical conduct by his involvement in the violations of recruiting legislation.

The committee noted that the institution and the NCAA enforcement staff substantially agreed with the facts of these findings and with the fact that violations of NCAA legislation had occurred. The university and the enforcement staff differed only on the issue of whether the infractions were secondary or major in nature. The committee concluded that the violations were major, and that the impermissible actions of the assistant coach formed a pattern of deliberate violations with a prospect of an elite stature that spanned virtually the entire period that the assistant coach was permitted to recruit the prospect under NCAA rules. The committee also concluded that the amount of money provided to the prospect was significant and undoubtedly provided in an effort to gain a recruiting advantage.

The committee also found that a secondary violation had occurred involving recruiting offers and inducements.

The university imposed a number of corrective actions and penalties, which were considered and accepted by the committee. They are:

Terminated the recruiting of both prospects and withdrew the scholarship offer that had been extended to one.

Relieved the assistant coach of all duties within the football program and suspended him with pay when he acknowledged that violations had occurred. The assistant coach subsequently tendered his required resignation and also agreed that, in light of the violations in which he was involved, he would not seek employment with or work in an NCAA program for a period of two football seasons.

Terminated efforts to recruit the prospect involved in the secondary violation.

Issued an official letter of reprimand to the second assistant coach that will remain in his personnel file for three years.

Froze the compensation package of the second assistant coach at its current level for fiscal years 2004 and 2005.

Required the second assistant coach pay $20, an amount equaling the actual cost of a baseball cap and T-shirt the assistant provided to a prospect, to a charity of his choice.

Established review sessions of recruiting legislation between the compliance director and the entire football staff in addition to existing rules education efforts already in place for the athletics department.

Because of the serious nature of the violations, the Committee on Infractions imposed the following additional penalties:

Public reprimand and censure.

One year of probation beginning August 11, 2003.

Accepted the two-year show-cause penalty offered and self-imposed by the assistant coach, beginning January 1, 2003, the date he left employment at Maryland, and concluding December 31, 2004. The assistant coach will be informed in writing by the NCAA that due to his involvement in violations of NCAA legislation found in this case, any member institution seeking to hire him during this two-year period shall be required to appear before the Division I Committee on Infractions to consider whether the member institution should be subject to the show-cause procedures of NCAA Bylaw 19.6.2.2 (1), which could limit the assistant coach's athletically related duties at such an institution.

Required that during the probationary period, the university shall continue to develop and implement a comprehensive educational program on NCAA legislation and submit periodic reports to the NCAA. The university also is required to submit to the director of the NCAA Committee on Infractions a preliminary report that sets forth a schedule for establishing this compliance and educational program. The institution also must file annual compliance reports indicating progress made with the program and placing particular emphasis on proper recruiting practices and ethical conduct expectations of coaching staff. At the end of the probationary period, the university's president will provide a letter to the committee affirming that the university's current athletics policies and practices conform to all requirements of NCAA regulations.

The committee noted that although institutional cooperation in NCAA investigations is mandatory, the university's cooperation in the investigation and its reaction to the violations was commendable. The committee further noted that the university should receive full credit for the responsible action it took, including:

Prompt and decisive action in pursuing initial information pertaining to the violations.

Meaningful and significant self-imposed penalties, which included the termination of the prospects, one of whom with older brothers attending the university and competing on the football team.

Considerable and significant punitive actions taken with the staff members involved in the violations.

As required by NCAA legislation for any institution involved in a major infractions case, Maryland is subject to the provisions of NCAA Bylaw 19.6.2.3, concerning repeat violators for a five-year period beginning on the effective date of the penalties in this case (August 11, 2003).

The members of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions who heard this case are: Thomas Yeager, committee chair and commissioner, Colonial Athletic Association; Alfred J. Lechner Jr., attorney, Princeton, New Jersey; Gene A. Marsh, professor of law, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; Andrea Myers, director of athletics, Indiana State University; James Park Jr., attorney, Lexington, Kentucky; and Josephine R. Potuto, professor of law, University of Nebraska, Lincoln.