National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Mar 31, 2010 8:25:07 AM

The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions announced decisions on two cases Tuesday, citing Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis for major violations in all 14 of the university's sports and the University of Texas, Pan-American, for major violations in its men's basketball program.

IUPUI received three years of probation, scholarship reductions and a vacation of records, while Texas-Pan American received two years of probation, recruiting restrictions and scholarship reductions.

The IUPUI case involved erroneous eligibility certification for 97 student-athletes over four academic years, a lack of institutional control and a failure to monitor by the university. In addition, the former academic advisor was cited for unethical conduct for his refusal to cooperate with the NCAA during its investigation.

Texas-Pan American was cited for recruiting violations and a failure to monitor by the university.

Both cases were resolved through the summary-disposition process, a cooperative effort where the involved parties submit the case to the Committee on Infractions in writing. When the NCAA enforcement staff, the university and involved individuals agree to the facts of the case and the university-proposed penalties, they may use this process instead of having a formal hearing.

IUPUI case

During the 2003-04 through 2006-07 academic years, the IUPUI student-athletes were certified despite their failure to meet academic requirements. These include not enrolling in a degree-seeking program, not meeting progress-toward-degree requirements, insufficient minimum enrollment standards and competing after graduating by re-enrolling in the same baccalaureate program. The violations resulted in some of the student-athletes practicing, competing, and receiving athletics scholarships or travel expenses while not eligible to do so.

About 75 percent of the involved student-athletes were either eligible or would have been eligible had they received proper academic advising. The university noted that no IUPUI student-athletes, coaches or athletics department administrators knew of any of the violations found in this case.

The former academic advisor was cited with unethical conduct for refusing to furnish information relevant to the investigation. Specifically, after participating in an interview with the university, he refused to cooperate with the enforcement staff.

The committee found that the university failed to provide NCAA rules education and training for key university staff and although the university had an eligibility committee in place it did not meet during the four years of the violations.

The penalties in this case include:

• Public reprimand and censure.
• Three years of probation from March 30, 2010, through March 29, 2013.
• Reductions in athletics scholarships awarded for a number of sports, which are further detailed in the public report.
• Vacation of all wins for the contests in which ineligible student-athletes participated. Vacated wins only affect the school in question, and not any of its competitors. This penalty involves the sports of volleyball, women's soccer, men's soccer, softball, men's basketball and women's basketball. Further details are available in the public report.

Texas-Pan American case

From August 2006 through the 2007-08 academic year, members of the men's basketball coaching staff made 44 impermissible phone calls to 13 prospective student-athletes. Further, during the summer and fall of 2006, members of the coaching staff provided inducements to a prospective student-athlete and visited his home during a noncontact period.

Starting at about the same time and continuing through the spring of 2007, the volunteer strength and conditioning coach also had impermissible contact with the prospective student-athlete when he prepared and supervised conditioning exercises for him.

The committee also found the university failed to monitor the number of recruiting telephone calls made by the men's basketball coaching staff, which led to the university not detecting inaccurate reporting by the coaching staff.

The penalties in this case include:

• Public reprimand and censure.
• Two years of probation from March 30, 2010, through March 29, 2012.
• For the 2009-10 academic year, the university will limit the number of calls to high school prospective student-athletes to one call per week, a decrease from the permissible two calls per week. During this time, it will also limit the number of calls to two-year transfer student-athletes to one call every two weeks. This is a decrease from the permissible one call per week.
• Reduce the number of recruiting opportunities per prospect from seven to four, and reduce the number of contacts to no greater than two per prospect from 2009-10, beginning May 1, 2009.
• Reduce the number of permissible off-campus recruiters from three to two for the 2009-10 academic year.
• Reduce the number of athletics scholarships from 13 to 12 for the 2009-10 academic year.
• Reduce the number of assistant coaches from three to two for the 2009-10 academic year.

The members of the Committee on Infractions who reviewed both cases include Paul Dee, lecturer in law and education at the University of Miami and formerly the institution's athletics director and general counsel. He is the chair of the Committee on Infractions. Other members are Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and formerly director of athletics at Hampton University; James O'Fallon, a law professor and faculty athletic representative for University of Oregon; Britton Banowsky, commissioner of Conference USA; and Eleanor Myers, faculty athletics representative and law professor at Temple University.