The NCAA has placed the Syracuse University (SU) men’s basketball and football programs on a five-year probation, suspended basketball head coach Jim Boeheim for nine Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) games next season, imposed fines, and taken away basketball scholarships.
However, the NCAA did accept the school’s self-imposed basketball post-season ban for this season and did not impose another ban for next year.
That’s according to the report that the NCAA Division I Committee on Infraction released Friday afternoon.
The press release that the NCAA distributed included the headline “Syracuse did not control athletics; basketball coach failed to monitor.”
The penalties include a reduction of three men’s basketball scholarships for the 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 academic years. If the school has already executed scholarship offers for the 2015-16 year, Syracuse may begin the four-year penalty with the 2016-17 year.
The NCAA has ordered Boeheim be suspended for the first nine ACC basketball games during the 2015-16 season.
The infractions-committee ruling also vacates all SU wins in which ineligible men’s basketball players participated in the 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, and in which ineligible football players played in the 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.
SU is ordered to pay a fine of $500 per contest in which ineligible players participated.
The school must also return to the NCAA all funds it has received to date through the former Big East Conference revenue-sharing agreement for its appearances in the 2011, 2012, and 2013 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
SU also has to reduce the number of permissible off-campus basketball recruiters from four to two between June 1, 2015 and May 31, 2017.
The findings
SU “discovered and self-reported” 10 violations in this case, which “primarily” involved the men’s basketball program, but also the football program, according to the NCAA news release.
The self-reported violations, dating back to 2001, include academic misconduct, extra benefits, the “failure to follow the school’s drug-testing policy and impermissible booster activity.”
The other violations found included “impermissible” academic assistance and services, Boeheim’s “failure” to promote an atmosphere of compliance and monitor his staff, and the school’s “lack of control” over its athletics program.
During the time period from 2001-02 through 2011-12, SU “failed to exercise proper control” over the administration of its athletics program and used “deficient monitoring systems,” which allowed violations to occur involving academics, compliance with its own drug-testing policy, and student relationships with a booster, according to the NCAA release.
Students and staff “committed violations freely or did not know that their conduct violated NCAA rules.”
SU didn’t detect “many” of the violations “for years,” the NCAA said. Staff members didn’t ask to ensure that relationships and activities with the booster met NCAA requirements.
In at least one case, a staff member did not report potential academic violations “due to concern of retaliation.”
During the 10-year period of violations, Boeheim — referred to in the NCAA report and news release only as “the head basketball coach” and not by name — did not promote an atmosphere of compliance within his program. He also did not monitor the activities of those who reported to him as they related to academics and booster involvement, the NCAA said.
Although the head basketball coach cited NCAA rules meetings with compliance staff and other initiatives, he operated under “assumptions” and “did not follow up” with his staff and students to ensure compliance, the NCAA contended.
Many of the violations occurred in the program and involved his students and staff.
Additionally, many of the academic violations stemmed from his director of basketball operations, who Boeheim “handpicked” to address academic matters in the program, according to the NCAA report.
Additional findings
From 2005 through 2007, a part-time tutor and three football players “violated ethical-conduct rules by engaging in academic misconduct,” the NCAA said.
The tutor certified that the students completed the required number of hours for an internship and gave the professor information about the type of activities that the student performed when the instructor had “limited knowledge” of activities completed.
The students received academic credit for misrepresented work, the NCAA said.
In January 2012, the director of basketball operations and a men’s basketball receptionist “violated ethical-conduct rules” when working to restore the eligibility of a men’s basketball player, according to the NCAA report.
That was the season in which Syracuse suspended Fab Melo for some regular-season games and for the NCAA Tournament.
The NCAA release went on to explain that two staff members completed coursework for the student after academics and athletics staff met to discuss potential options for the academically ineligible student.
The “improper” academic assistance occurred in 2012 when the school was under investigation for other potential violations and after the NCAA denied an eligibility wavier for the student.
In its decision, the infractions committee specifically addressed its concern about academic integrity.
“Improper institutional involvement and influence in a student’s academic work in order to gain or maintain eligibility is a violation of NCAA rules and a violation of the most fundamental core values of the NCAA and higher education,” the committee wrote in its report. “The behavior in this case, which placed the desire to achieve success on the basketball court over academic integrity, demonstrated clearly misplaced institutional priorities.”
From 2010 through 2012, a support-services mentor, who would later become the receptionist involved in the 2012 academic misconduct, and a support-services tutor provided “impermissible academic assistance” to three men’s basketball players.
The mentor and tutor “made revisions, created or wrote assignments” for the basketball players, the NCAA said.
Although the school determined academic misconduct “did not occur,” the panel noted revising or writing academic coursework for students was “not a part of, or the intent of, the student-athlete support services provided by the school and exceeded the type of support generally available through the program,” according to the news release.
The Division I Legislative Council in January determined that schools have the authority to determine whether academic misconduct occurred; however, traditional extra-benefit rules still apply, the NCAA noted.
Drug testing, booster
From 2001 to early 2009, SU “did not follow” its own written policies and procedures for students who tested positive for banned substances, the NCAA report said.
NCAA rules require that if schools have a drug-testing policy in place, it must include substances on the banned list and the school must follow its policy.
Syracuse had a written policy; however, Boeheim and SU Athletic Director Daryl Gross “admitted they did not follow the policy,” according to the NCAA.
Gross said the department followed an “unwritten policy” because the written policy was “confusing.”
As a result, basketball players who tested positive on more than one occasion “were not withheld from practice and games,” as the written policy directed.
Additionally, a booster developed relationships with men’s basketball and football players and members of the men’s basketball staff, according to the NCAA news release.
In some instances, the basketball staff encouraged students to develop relationships with the booster, “which resulted in rule violations.”
The booster provided more than $8,000 in cash to three football and two men’s basketball players for volunteering at [an area] YMCA.
The booster also gave money to basketball staff members for appearances or assistance at YMCA events, the NCAA said.
The staff members “did not report the payments to the school as outside income or supplemental pay,” as NCAA rules require.
The compensation included a free membership to an area YMCA for a year and a half, cash payments for working events, and one month’s rent for one staff member.
The NCAA’s infractions committee noted the timing of this case, saying that “numerous issues outlined in the decision delayed the final resolution.”
“A key indicator of an effective process is timely resolution, which did not occur in this case,” the committee wrote.
In its decision, the panel noted that the duration and nature of violations in this case required penalties beyond what the school self-imposed.
Because the violations straddled the implementation of the new penalty structure applied in August 2013, the panel used the former, “more lenient” penalty structure.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com