Front Losing Two Scholarships Busts
Losing Two Scholarships - Crime Count: 8 - limited
DateTeam_NameSportCategoryLinkPointsEvidence
2010-06-10The_GoonsPac 10NuisanceCrime Link20The NCAA leveled Southern California with stinging penalties Thursday, issuing a two-year bowl ban and declaring Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush ineligible dating back to the Trojans’ 2004 national championship season.

Citing USC for a lack of institutional control in its long-awaited report, the NCAA also put the entire athletic program on four years’ probation, took away a total of 30 football scholarships over three years and vacated every victory in which Bush participated in from December 2004 through the 2005 season.
2008-08-21Trailer_TrashMWCNuisanceCrime Link4The NCAA put the New Mexico program on three years of probation Wednesday and cut five scholarships as punishment for academic violations involving two former assistant coaches.

The sanctions imposed by the NCAA’s infractions committee went beyond the university’s self-imposed penalties, which included two years of probation and fewer scholarship reductions.

New Mexico’s head coach Rocky Long was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

The NCAA concluded that the former Lobos assistants in 2004 improperly helped three recruits to obtain fraudulent academic credits through correspondence courses they never completed at Fresno Pacific University, a fully accredited, four-year college in California that also offers online degrees.

In its report, the infractions committee said course registration materials at Fresno Pacific showed the home addresses for the three UNM recruits as the home address in California of a brother of one former assistant. Coaches’ office or cell phone numbers were listed as the recruits’ phone numbers. The recruits admitted to NCAA investigators that they "received no course materials and did no work" but received course credit.

The recruits took courses from a Fresno Pacific instructor who was an acquaintance of one of the former UNM assistants.

At a news conference, athletic director Paul Krebs said the university fully cooperated with the NCAA during the probe.

"I do think there is some relief that comes with the filing of the report. It allows us to bring closure to what is a sad and embarassing situation for the university," Krebs said.

Long said the penalities will force his program to be more selective in its recruiting. He said he also would keep a tighter rein on his assistants.

Of the two assistants, Long said: "When they’re out on the road themselves and doing this sort of thing, they’re trying to recruit the best they can. Sometimes you lose sight of what’s important. I think they’re two great guys who made some serious mistakes."

The infractions committee pointed out that New Mexico was the third school that had major rules violations involving courses from Fresno Pacific.

"All institutions are cautioned that due diligence must be exercised prior to accepting courses from Fresno Pacific for academic credit and athletic eligibility purposes," the committee said in its report.

Sanctions also were imposed on the former assistants in their recruiting and coaching activities at any school where they work. The NCAA did not identify the assistants in the infractions committee’s report.
2008-07-14Gold_ToothBig 10NuisanceCrime Link4Getting a jump on possible Academic Progress Rate penalties for a large number of defections, Indiana University took away two scholarships in basketball for the upcoming season.
2008-06-19Trailer_TrashOhio ValleyNuisanceCrime Link1Southeast Missouri’s women’s basketball team was ordered to forfeit 44 victories Wednesday and the NCAA placed both the women’s and men’s programs on two years of probation for major and secondary violations.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions said the violations in the women’s program in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons primarily involved impermissible housing, transportation and meals for prospective student athletes who moved near the university in the summer before enrolling for the first time. The men’s basketball program was penalized for allowing ineligible transfers to travel and practice.

The school was censured for lack of institutional control and a failure by former women’s coach B.J. Smith to monitor the program. Smith was coach from 2002-03 through 2005-06 before resigning in December 2006, compiling a 79-41 record over that span that was the best in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Southeast Missouri was 22-9 in 2005-06, winning the conference tournament and playing in the NCAA tournament, and 22-8 in 2004-05, losing in double overtime to Eastern Kentucky in the conference tournament championship game.

Ron Hines, spokesman for the athletic department, said the school hasn’t decided if it will appeal the ruling.

Penalties, including those self-imposed by the university, also included a reduction in recruiting activity, financial penalties and a reduction in the number of scholarships.

The NCAA said its investigation found that seven prospects and one parent received impermissible automobile transportation from women’s basketball managers, players and other prospects, with transportation arranged by members of the coaching staff. In addition, the NCAA said, members of the coaching staff provided impermissible transportation to four prospects from their homes to local venues.

Six prospects lived cost-free in an off-campus house rented by women’s basketball players for various periods from a few days to a few weeks over a period of four summers, the NCAA said. The investigation found the women’s coaching staff knew that prospects lived in the housing on some occasions but made no effort to make sure that they paid for it.

In addition, members of the women’s coaching staff allowed two prospects to observe or volunteer at summer camps and to receive free housing and meals.

The committee found that six women’s basketball prospects participated in voluntary summer workouts conducted by the university’s strength and conditioning coach.

The NCAA said Smith had been aware that multiple prospects were in the vicinity of the university working in summer camps and participating in summer conditioning activities. The committee on infractions found that he failed to monitor their activities.

In the men’s program, three transfer students traveled with the team and had their expenses paid even though they were ineligible. The violations occurred on multiple occasions over two academic years, resulting in extra benefits totaling between $1,700 and $2,800 for each of the transfers.

Hines said those infractions involved players brought on by then-coach Gary Garner because injuries had left him without enough people for five-on-five practices. Hines said Garner wasn’t aware that he was violating NCAA rules.

The NCAA said a competitive advantage was gained because the players had an opportunity to acclimate to road travel and further integrate in the team while receiving additional coaching and practice time.
2008-06-19Trailer_TrashOhio ValleyNuisanceCrime Link1Southeast Missouri’s women’s basketball team was ordered to forfeit 44 victories Wednesday and the NCAA placed both the women’s and men’s programs on two years of probation for major and secondary violations.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions said the violations in the women’s program in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons primarily involved impermissible housing, transportation and meals for prospective student athletes who moved near the university in the summer before enrolling for the first time. The men’s basketball program was penalized for allowing ineligible transfers to travel and practice.

The school was censured for lack of institutional control and a failure by former women’s coach B.J. Smith to monitor the program. Smith was coach from 2002-03 through 2005-06 before resigning in December 2006, compiling a 79-41 record over that span that was the best in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Southeast Missouri was 22-9 in 2005-06, winning the conference tournament and playing in the NCAA tournament, and 22-8 in 2004-05, losing in double overtime to Eastern Kentucky in the conference tournament championship game.

Ron Hines, spokesman for the athletic department, said the school hasn’t decided if it will appeal the ruling.

Penalties, including those self-imposed by the university, also included a reduction in recruiting activity, financial penalties and a reduction in the number of scholarships.

The NCAA said its investigation found that seven prospects and one parent received impermissible automobile transportation from women’s basketball managers, players and other prospects, with transportation arranged by members of the coaching staff. In addition, the NCAA said, members of the coaching staff provided impermissible transportation to four prospects from their homes to local venues.

Six prospects lived cost-free in an off-campus house rented by women’s basketball players for various periods from a few days to a few weeks over a period of four summers, the NCAA said. The investigation found the women’s coaching staff knew that prospects lived in the housing on some occasions but made no effort to make sure that they paid for it.

In addition, members of the women’s coaching staff allowed two prospects to observe or volunteer at summer camps and to receive free housing and meals.

The committee found that six women’s basketball prospects participated in voluntary summer workouts conducted by the university’s strength and conditioning coach.

The NCAA said Smith had been aware that multiple prospects were in the vicinity of the university working in summer camps and participating in summer conditioning activities. The committee on infractions found that he failed to monitor their activities.

In the men’s program, three transfer students traveled with the team and had their expenses paid even though they were ineligible. The violations occurred on multiple occasions over two academic years, resulting in extra benefits totaling between $1,700 and $2,800 for each of the transfers.

Hines said those infractions involved players brought on by then-coach Gary Garner because injuries had left him without enough people for five-on-five practices. Hines said Garner wasn’t aware that he was violating NCAA rules.

The NCAA said a competitive advantage was gained because the players had an opportunity to acclimate to road travel and further integrate in the team while receiving additional coaching and practice time.
2008-05-26Trailer_TrashSun BeltNuisanceCrime Link1Florida International was placed on four years probation by the NCAA on Wednesday and will lose scholarships for a variety of infractions.


More than 40 athletes who competed for the school from the 2002-03 through the 2006-07 academic years violated rules, said Josephine Potuto, chairwoman of the NCAA committee on infractions.

The school, which jumped from NCAA Division I-AA to Division I-A, misapplied enrollment and financial aid rules, transfer requirements and eligibility rules, the NCAA found.

"The institution acknowledges that it was not ready for the move, at least from a compliance standpoint," Potuto said.

The men’s basketball program lost one scholarship and its baseball program lost 1.5. The football program was stripped of three scholarships. In all, 11 sports lost scholarships.

The violations were self-reported. Records set during the years of the infractions were erased, and the probationary period is to end May 19, 2012, because the sanctions were added on top of other penalties.

The school said the violations were not intentional.

"Upon discovering these violations, we put in place new compliance procedures that are much more suited to the university FIU has become in the last 10 years," university president Modesto Maidique said. "We now have the level of staffing and the redundancies that will prevent these types of infractions from occurring again in the future."

Rick Mello, the school’s former athletic director who became an associate commissioner with the Sun Belt Conference in 2006, declined comment through a Sun Belt spokesman.
2008-05-06PerpetratorsPac 10NuisanceCrime Link4Washington State Cougars has been penalized 8 football scholarships by the NCAA due to poor academic performance by the team.
2008-04-20Trailer_TrashMWCNuisanceCrime Link4New Mexico administrators presented their case to the NCAA infractions committee during a full-day hearing Friday in an academic fraud investigation involving two former assistant football coaches.

The panel also heard from Lenny Rodriguez and Grady Stretz, the former assistants who are accused of improperly helping one New Mexico player and four recruits obtain fraudulent academic credits through correspondence courses at Fresno Pacific University.

Members of the infractions committee advised the parties not to publicly discuss details of the meeting, but Krebs characterized it as productive.

"It was a very fair hearing," he said in a brief telephone interview from Indianapolis. "A lot of information was disclosed by all sides and there was a full vetting of the issues. Now we await the outcome."

The committee is expected to issue its findings in six to eight weeks.

Head coach Rocky Long, who attended with Krebs and three university administrators, is not accused of any wrongdoing.

New Mexico faces three rules violations in the case. No current players are tied to the investigation, which dates from the spring of 2004 and fall of 2005, and only two of the five played for the Lobos.

New Mexico self-imposed penalties on the three counts, including two years’ probation, the reduction of two scholarships for next season and cutting the number of coaches who can make off-campus visits over the next two seasons.

The NCAA dropped a fourth charge.

Rodriguez, who coached at New Mexico from 1998-2006, is an assistant at Mount San Antonio College in suburban Los Angeles. Stretz, an assistant at New Mexico from 1998-2005, coaches Arizona State’s defensive line.