Quarter 3 COI Summary and Takeaways

University of Tennessee, Recruiting Violations

Public Infractions Decision

Key Takeaways: Provide mandatory beginning of the year education for football staff coaches and all staff that assist with visits on what is permissible during official and unofficial visits.

Level: Level I-Standard (institution) and Level I-Aggravated (head coach and director of football recruiting).

Facts: Tennessee failed to monitor their football program when committing 18 Level I violations involving recruiting rules. These violations revolved around providing impermissible inducements and benefits to PSAs and their families, current student-athletes and their families, individuals associated with a prospect, and boosters.

Over the course of two years, the football program acted impermissibly by paying for prospects’ expenses when they came on unofficial visits. Before a prospect came to campus, the former recruiting director would work with an assistant coach and arrange hotel rooms that would be paid for in cash prior to the prospect’s arrival. The staff would also regularly call restaurants prospects were going to eat and ask them to hold the prospect’s bill so a football staff member could come by and pay it later in cash. The football staff avoided detection of these violations by creating two different itineraries. The one sent to compliance only contained permissible activities and the other would include the activities that would not have been approved by compliance.

During the Covid-19 dead period the football staff also arranged for six prospects to visit campus and asked enrolled student-athletes to assist in showing the prospects around. Compliance was never informed about any of these visits. When students began returning to campus, the football staff moved the visits farther away from campus to avoid detection.

Two prospects who later enrolled at the institution received cash payments from the former head coach and his wife. Prior to enrollment Prospect 1’s mother received $6,000 in cash to use as down payment on a car. After he enrolled at the institution, the former head coach’s wife provided Prospect 1’s mother with $500 a month at least 25 times. When Prospect 1’s mother decided to move to the institution’s locale, the former head coach’s wife introduced her to a real estate agent who was a booster to the prospect’s mother find a place to live. The head coach’s wife provided $1,600 to the mother to assist with a deposit on her rental home.

When Prospect 2 was moving in, his mother told the head coach that she needed a medical procedure but could not pay for it due to her outstanding debt. The head coach later handed her an envelope with approximately $3,000 in cash. The head coach also gave Prospect 2’s mother $300 in cash for gas money.

In total, from January 2019 through November 2020 the program provided 13 prospects and their families with cost-free hotel lodging, meals, entertainment, transportation, cash payments and/or Tennessee-branded clothing and merchandise, all of which totaled $3,919. The football program also provided seven student-athletes with a total of $1,338 in cash payments to offset their expenses, related to hosting prospects in connection with the visits.

Bylaw Violations Found:

• 2.8.1
• 10.01.1
• 10.1
• 10.1 (b)
• 11.1.1.1
• 11.7.4.2
• 12.11.1
• 13.02.5.5
• 13.1.2.1
• 13.1.2.7
• 13.1.4.2.1
• 13.2.1.1 (e)
• 13.2.1
• 13.2.1.1 (b)
• 13.2.1.1 (g)
• 13.5.2.2.2
• 13.5.3
• 13.7.3.1.2
• 13.7.3.1.6
• 13.7.5
• 16.8.1
• 16.11.2.1
• 16.11.2.2 (d)

Penalties:

Core Penalties for Level I – Standard Violations (Institution)

• Five-year probation.
• $5,000 fine plus 3% of the football budget.
  • 50% of the gross payout received by the SEC as a result of Tennessee’s participation in the 2020 bowl game.
  • Additional fine of $8 million.
  • Reduction of 28 football scholarships during the term of probation.
  • Reduce official visits in the football program by 36 during the term of probation. Official visits must be prohibited in connection with 10 regular-season home football contests (four must be versus SEC opponents).
  • Restrict recruiting communication in football for a total of 28 weeks during the terms of probation. This includes at least three weeks each year and they shall be required to prohibit recruiting communication during one week each in December and January and one week from March through June during each year of probation.
  • Reduce evaluation days by a total of 120 during the term of probation (28 fall days and 92 spring days).

Core Penalties for Level I – Aggravated Violations

• Six-year show-cause order for the former head coach.
• Five-year show-cause order for the former recruiting director.
• 10-year show-cause order for the former assistant recruiting director.

Core Penalties for Level I – Standard Violations

• Three-year show-cause order for assistant coach 3.

Additional Penalties for Level I-Standard Violations

• Vacation of team and individual records in which ineligible student-athletes competed.
• Disassociation with real estate agent/booster.
• During the 2023-24 academic year, the institution will not purchase advertising
• in connection with all football postseason TV broadcasts in which it is a
• participant.
• An external group will conduct an audit of the football program with an emphasis
• on recruiting operations during each year of probation.
• The institution shall host an annual, mandatory compliance seminar with an

emphasis on recruiting operations for all football personnel that includes one more representatives from the NCAA and/or SEC.

Morgan State, Impermissible Tryouts

Negotiated Resolution

Key Takeaways: Coordinate practice visits with unofficial visits to ensure there is no impermissible participation with prospects.

Level: Level II – Standard (institution and head coach).

Facts: The softball coaching staff committed recruiting violations when they conducted impermissible tryouts with four prospective student-athletes at both institutional and off-campus facilities.

Twice the head coach arranged to meet PSA 1 at an off-campus facility and provided instruction while she pitched. On one of the instances PSA 1 was pitching to an enrolled student-athlete. On an unofficial visit to the institution, PSA 2 was given a tour by an enrolled student-athlete and then invited to field ground balls with the student-athlete and coach at the athletics facility. PSA 3 took an unofficial visit to campus and attended softball practice. At practice she was invited to join the team and field fly balls in the outfield with other student-athletes. She then went to an institutional facility where the softball staff watched her swing to judge her wrist speed. PSA 4 took an unofficial visit to the institution and the head coach and his staff watched her pitch to an enrolled student-athlete at an institutional facility.

The head softball coach knew the violations he was involved in were impermissible and he did not report the violations to compliance.

Bylaw Violations Found:

• 11.1.1.1
• 13.1.2.7 (a)
• 13.11.1

Penalties:

Core Penalties for Level II – Standard Violations

• Two-year probation.
• $5,00 fine.
• One-year show-cause for the head coach where he was prohibited from all recruiting communication, off-campus recruiting and evaluations for four weeks in July 2023 and must attend NCAA Regional Rules.
• Head coach must be suspended from the first 10% of the softball regular season during the show-cause order.
• The institution shall have a maximum of 10 combined official and unofficial visits in the softball program during the 2023-24 academic year.
• Prohibited recruiting communication and off-campus recruiting and evaluations in softball for four weeks in July 2023.

Additional Penalties for Level II – Standard Violations

• 10-year disassociation with former student-athlete who refused to cooperate with the investigation.
• Public reprimand and censure.

University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Ethical conduct, Impermissible Benefits, Recruiting Violations, CARA Violations

Negotiated Resolution

Key Takeaways: Provide financial aid education to student-athletes including permissible sources of financial aid and who they should reach out to regarding financial aid opportunities.

Level: Level I – Mitigated (institution) and Level I – Aggravated (former head coach)

Facts: The former head men’s soccer coach violated ethical conduct rules when he told a student-athlete to pay him thousands of dollars from the student-athlete’s scholarship refund check. He also provided impermissible benefits to student-athletes, violated CARA regulations, had impermissible recruiting communications, and had COVID-19 recruiting violations.

The student-athlete reported that he was not on scholarship his sophomore year but the former head coach provided him with $2,000 in case to help pay his rent. The following year the student-athlete was put on scholarship and received a $10,000 refund check to pay for his off-campus living expenses. The former head coach directed the student-athletes to give him the $10,000 in cash. The student-athlete paid the former head coach $7,000 over four installments and then used the remaining $3,000 to pay for a summer course. The student-athlete had not been notified his aid was being reduced and had done nothing to warrant his aid being reduced so this was a violation of NCAA rules.

The former head coach also provided impermissible benefits to two men’s soccer student-athletes by providing them cash loans and allowing the use of his second car to a third student-athlete. This resulted in the student-athletes competing in games while ineligible.

During the fall of 2020 the team’s season had been cancelled but the school would have permitted the team to have limited on-campus practices. However, the former head coach told the school they would not be practicing and then held off-campus practices with the entire team. The former head coach never declared a playing season since he told compliance the team would not be participating in CARA. This resulted in impermissible practices and exceeded CARA limitations.

The former head coach also had impermissible contact with a PSA that was enrolled at a DIII school. The PSA had been planning to attend the institution but then was not admitted and enrolled at DIII school. The former head coach continued to contact the PSA while enrolled at the DIII school without receiving authorization from the DIII school. The PSA later transferred to UMass Lowell and participated in 17 contests while ineligible.

There was also a violation of the Covid-19 dead period when the former head coach and former assistant coach directed a current student-athlete to provide a tour to a PSA during the dead period.

The former head coach also failed to cooperate with the Enforcement staff when he refused to provide truthful and complete information. He violated head coach responsibility rules and failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance.

Bylaw Violations Found:

• 10.01.1
• 10.1
• 10.1 (b)
• 11.1.1.1
• 12.11.1
• 12.11.2
• 13.02.5.5
• 13.1.1.3
• 15.3.2.3
• 15.3.4.2
• 16.8.1
• 16.11.2.1
• 16.11.2.2 (a)
• 16.11.2.2 (c)
• 17.1.1.1
• 17.1.3
• 17.1.7.2 (a)
• 17.1.7.3.4

Penalties:

Core Penalties for Level I – Institution

• Two-years of probation.
• $5,000 fine plus 1% of the men’s soccer budget.
• Reduce official paid visits in men’s soccer during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years by 12.5% of the average number of official paid visits in the men’s soccer program during the previous four years.
• Four-week reduction in official visits to be satisfied by December 31, 2023.
• Four-week reduction in off-campus recruiting to be satisfied by December 31, 2023.

Core Penalties for Level I – Aggravated Violations

• Former head coach is subject to a five-year show-cause order and after the five-year show-cause expires, the head coach will be suspended from 100% of the men’s soccer regular season dates of competition.

Additional Penalties for Level I – Mitigated Violations

• CARA in men’s soccer will be reduced by 26 hours during the 2023-24 academic year.
• Vacation of team and individual records in which ineligible student-athletes participated.