NCAA Resolves Indiana University of Pennsylvania Infractions Case Through Summary Disposition

INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division II Committee on Infractions has penalized Indiana University of Pennsylvania for major violations in its men’s basketball and men’s and women’s swimming program. The violations include two charges of unethical conduct, a failure to monitor and impermissible benefits.

Penalties for the violations include placing the university on probation for two years; reducing the number of scholarships for both programs; a vacation of select swimming records; and placing the former head swimming coach on a two-year show cause order.

Under this show-cause penalty, if the former head swimming coach seeks athletically related employment with another NCAA member school during the next two years, he and the hiring institution must appear before the Committee on Infractions to determine whether his duties should be limited.

This case was resolved through the summary disposition process rather than a formal hearing before the Committee on Infractions. Summary disposition is used when there is an agreement among the university, the NCAA enforcement staff and involved parties regarding the facts of the case. The Committee on Infractions reviewed the agreement and the penalties recommended by the university.

Regarding the infractions in the swimming program, the former head swimming coach impermissibly hired one of his student-athletes, forged signatures so the student-athlete could be paid, and arranged for her to be paid for work she did not perform during the 2005-06 academic year. It was determined that this student-athlete was paid an hourly wage of $13.90, which was far above the usual $5.15 rate paid to students employed on campus.

The former head swimming coach also supplied three student-athletes with impermissible extra benefits totaling $1,365 during the 2004-05 academic year. These funds were provided to pay for personal expenses, as well as the student-athletes’ lodging, transportation and pool rental during an annual trip to Florida. The university typically requires student-athletes to cover these costs, except for meals.

In addition, during the fall of 2005, the former head swimming coach failed to withhold two student-athletes from athletics competition even though the former head coach was previously informed by the university’s compliance office that the young men were ineligible to compete. He allowed the student-athletes to represent the university in a swimming meet on October 29, 2005.

The committee found that the former head swimming coach knowingly operated the men’s and women’s swimming programs contrary to NCAA rules when he committed these violations.       

In the men’s basketball program, the former head men’s basketball coach engaged in a scheme from the 2000-01 academic year through 2005-06 designed to stretch his scholarship dollars. During that time, he had 14 men’s basketball prospects complete their admission applications using Pennsylvania addresses, including that of the former head coach, so that the student-athletes could qualify for in-state tuition rather than the more expensive out-of-state rate. In some instances, the former head basketball coach completed the applications for the young men. His deceit caused inaccurate information regarding financial aid to be recorded on the men’s basketball squad list and, although neither team nor individual equivalency limits were exceeded, the actions of the former head men’s basketball coach caused the university to grant a men’s basketball student-athlete impermissible state aid in the amount of $6,450.

Further, during the summer of 2005, the former head men’s basketball coach arranged for the textbooks for two student-athletes to be paid for out of an account the former head men’s basketball coach established at the campus bookstore.

The actions of the former head men’s basketball coach constituted unethical conduct.

The committee found that the scope and nature of the violations in this case demonstrated a failure to monitor the conduct and administration of the university’s men’s basketball program. Specifically, the committee found that the university failed to monitor the head men’s basketball coach regarding his activities associated with creating a campus bookstore account that was used to deposit book revenue from the sale of used books owned by the men’s basketball student-athletes. In addition, the men’s basketball program failed to detect information concerning the residency status of approximately 14 student-athletes that were erroneously reported by the former head men’s basketball coach on admissions applications. Finally, the committee found the program failed to establish or follow a proper procedure to routinely check accounts maintained in the bookstore to ensure that deposits or expenditures from the account adhered to NCAA rules.

As this case came to the committee as a summary disposition, the self-imposed penalties have been adopted and are outlined below:

• Public reprimand and censure.
• Two years of probation from October 30, 2007, through October 29, 2009.

The institution implemented the following penalties:

 

• Placed the former head swimming coach on administrative leave January 10, 2006.  He subsequently resigned his position January 31, 2006.
• Reduced the amount of institutionally administered athletics financial aid awarded to student-athletes in the sport of men's and women's swimming by 12 percent from $55,000 (the average annual amount awarded over the past four years) to no more than $48,500 for the 2006-07 season.  
• Placed a moratorium on the recruitment of international swimmers throughout the 2006-07 academic year, for those prospects who would enroll in the fall of 2007.
• Vacated the dual meet on October 29, 2005, against Ashland University and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, in which the two male swimming student-athletes who competed were ineligible.  The institution's compliance office contacted both schools that were involved in the invitational meet and informed their respective compliance officers that the institution would vacate this victory due to the use of ineligible athletes and adjust the individual place finishes.

• Closed all athletics central treasury and charge accounts at the Student Cooperative Association (SCA) and instituted a policy with the SCA prohibiting the creation of such accounts. 
• Declared four swimming student-athletes ineligible for competition, and reinstatement requests were submitted on their behalf to the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff. 
• Cancelled the Christmas swimming training trip to Florida in 2005.  Monies representing the student-athletes' portion of trip costs were returned in full to the student-athletes.
• Did not pay the cost for swimming student-athlete meals during the student-athletes' Christmas training trip between the 2006-07 fall and spring semester.  In the past, the institution allocated funds for meals. 
• Placed the former head men's basketball coach on administrative leave with pay effective October 5, 2005.  On December 6, 2005, the head men's basketball coach was reinstated after serving a two-month and six-game disciplinary suspension from October 5 to December 5, 2005.  Subsequent to reinstatement, the head men's basketball coach was excluded from off-campus and on-campus recruiting, excluded from offering financial aid or other scholarships activities and required the head men's basketball coach to obtain written approval of the athletics director to spend any athletics funds.  In addition, the former head men's basketball coach agreed to resign his position effective three business days after the end of the last game of the season.  His resignation was effective March 3, 2006. 
• Did not renew the contracts of either assistant men's basketball coach for the 2006-07 season.
• Reduced the amount of institutionally administered athletics financial aid awarded to student-athletes in the sport of men's basketball by 20 percent from $92,200 (the average annual amount awarded over the past four years) to no more than $73,800 for the 2006-07 season. 
• Limited off-campus recruiting by reducing the number of days spent off campus by five days for the 2006-07 men's basketball season for each of the three members of the men's basketball staff, resulting in a total reduction of 15 days.

Additional Penalties Imposed by the Committee on Infractions include:

 

• Two year show-cause order for the former head swimming coach (October 30, 2007, through October 29, 2009).
• The institution shall amend and update its Office of International Affairs I-20 forms for international student-athletes to 1) Explain that athletically related financial aid is subject to tax withholding; and 2) Require that the international student-athletes list their sources of financial support.

The Committee on Infractions consists of conference and institutional athletics administrators, faculty and members of the public. The committee independently rules on cases investigated by the NCAA enforcement staff and determines appropriate penalties. 

The members of the NCAA Division II Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case are Bruce Kirsh, chair, athletic director and vice president, Franklin Pierce College; Larry Blumberg, faculty athletics representative and chair of math department, Washburn University of Topeka; Jean Paul Bradshaw II, attorney, Lathrop & Gage L.C; and Wendy Taylor May, assistant athletic director, University of California, San Diego.