The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has penalized the University of New Mexico for major and secondary violations in its football program. The case involves violations of NCAA rules governing ethical conduct and impermissible inducements and benefits, based on two former assistant coaches knowingly arranging for fraudulent academic credit.

Penalties for the violations, including those self-imposed by the institution, include three years of probation, a reduction of football scholarships, recruiting restrictions and a three-year show-cause order for the two former assistant coaches.

These show-cause penalties outline how each of the former assistant coaches’ recruiting and other coaching duties should be limited at their present employing institution. These limitations are further detailed in the public report.

The committee found that the two former assistant coaches arranged for the enrollment in correspondence courses for an enrolled student-athlete and three prospective student-athletes. All three prospects received credit for course work they did not complete. The courses taken by the young men were led by an instructor employed by Fresno Pacific University. This instructor was an acquaintance of one of the former assistance coaches.

The committee noted in its report that courses from Fresno Pacific have previously been involved in major infractions cases regarding Long Beach State University and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. As such, all institutions are cautioned by the committee that due diligence must be exercised before accepting courses from Fresno Pacific for academic credit and athletics eligibility purposes.

During the time in which the violations occurred, the university’s football program recruited heavily from two-year colleges. At the hearing, the institution’s head football coach said it was not unusual for the football program to recruit as many as 40 two-year college prospects each year. Many of those two-year college prospects had academic deficiencies requiring them to complete further course work in addition to their two-year college courses to become eligible for admission to the university and athletics participation.

The committee found that the former assistant coaches acted in a common scheme to achieve eligibility for two of the prospective student-athletes. One of the former assistant coaches had contacts at junior colleges, and most particularly, a prior relationship with the instructor. The other former assistant coach was the primary recruiter for two of the three prospects. In the case of all three prospects, the young men received course credit even though they completed no work for the course.

Both former assistant coaches violated ethical-conduct rules for failing to deport themselves in accordance with the honesty and integrity normally associated with the administration of intercollegiate athletics, as required by NCAA rules. The charge stemmed from the former assistant coaches’ knowing involvement in NCAA rules violations, their arrangement for fraudulent academic credit, and for providing false and misleading information to the enforcement staff.

This case also involved a secondary violation for impermissible phone contact, which is further detailed in the public report.

In determining the penalties, the Committee on Infractions considered the university’s self-imposed penalties and corrective actions, its cooperation in the case, as well as the actions of the two former assistant coaches. The penalties, some of which were self-imposed by the institution and adopted by the committee, are as follows:

•         Public reprimand and censure.

•         Three years of probation (August 20, 2008, to August 19, 2011).

•         Through the term of probation, the university shall award no more than 20 initial scholarships annually in football, comprising a reduction of five scholarships. Further, it shall not have more than 80 total “counters” on the football squad through the same period, for another reduction of five scholarships.

•         Restricted the number of two-year college signees who were nonqualifiers out of high school by 50 percent for a two-year period (self-imposed by the university).

•         Restricted the number of coaches allowed to recruit off campus by one (from seven to six) for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic years (self-imposed by the university).

•         The number of paid visits provided to prospective football student-athletes shall be capped as follows through the term of probation: 46 for 2008-09; 48 for 2009-10; and 48 for 2010-11. Further, the university shall not bank any unused official paid visits during those three academic years.

•         Both former assistant coaches received a three-year show-cause penalty (August 20, 2008 through August 19, 2011). The restrictions of these penalties are detailed in the public report.

The members of the Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case are Josephine Potuto, the Richard H. Larson Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Nebraska College of Law and chair of the committee; Paul Dee, director of athletics at the University of Miami (Florida), and formerly the institution’s general counsel; Eileen Jennings, general counsel at Central Michigan University; Alfred Lechner Jr., attorney; Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and formerly director of athletics at Hampton University; Ted Leland, the vice president for advancement at the University of the Pacific, and formerly the director of athletics of, among others, Stanford University; Gene Marsh, James M. Kidd Sr. Professor of Law at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa School of Law; and Andrea Meyers, athletics director emeritus, Indiana State University.