The University of Alaska Anchorage must reduce the number of available women’s basketball scholarships by 0.74 from the allowable maximum of 10 scholarships, according to a decision released by the NCAA Division II Infractions Appeals Committee.
In May 2014, the NCAA Division II Committee on Infractions found the former head women’s basketball coach provided money to two student-athletes, resulting in a violation of the NCAA’s ethical conduct standards and a failure to promote an atmosphere for compliance.
Penalties, including those self-imposed by the university, include two years of probation, a vacation of records, a reduction of women’s basketball scholarships, a suspension from the first three conference games for the former head coach at his current employing school and a two-year show-cause order for the former head coach. During the show-cause period, the former head coach will be limited in his duties in his current job.
In its appeal, the school asked the Infractions Appeals Committee to set aside the reduction of scholarship penalty bcause it was excessive such that the Committee on Infractions abused its discretion.
After reviewing the case, the Infractions Appeals Committee determined that there was nothing in the record before them that supported setting aside the penalty and upheld the reduction of scholarships for the women’s basketball program imposed by the Committee on Infractions.
The members of the Infractions Appeals Committee who heard this case were: Richard D. Loosbrock, faculty athletics representative at Adams State University; Ann Jirkovsky, faculty athletics representative and assistant professor of psychology at Bellarmine University; LaKeisha C. Marsh, chair and Associate Vice President and Counsel at TCS Education System, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology; Gregory Moore, commissioner at the Southern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference; and Morgan Walker, associate athletics director at California State University, San Bernardino.