Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim, as well as the Orange athletic department were hit with a number of NCAA sanctions Friday which stem from a laundry list of academic fraud allegations under the coach’s watch. Some of these sanctions include the devastating loss of wins, 108 to be exact which drops Boeheim from 2nd (966) to 6th (858) on the all-time list. So please forget those wins ever happened. Additionally the school also loses scholarships, a giveback of shared Big East revenue and Boeheim being suspended for nine conference games next season. This is all on top of the school already self imposing a post-season ban this year.
Here’s an excerpt of the NCAA Infractions Committee’s findings detailed in their own report. Ironically they don’t mention any names referring to the person in question as ‘the head basketball coach’:
During the 10-year period of violations, the head basketball coach did not promote an atmosphere of compliance within his program and did not monitor the activities of those who reported to him as they related to academics and booster involvement. 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. 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 the head basketball coach handpicked to address academic matters in the program.
Furthermore, here’s the full list of sanctions on Boeheim and Syracuse:
- Five years of probation from March 6, 2015 through March 5, 2020.
- Vacation of all wins in which ineligible men’s basketball students played in 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2010-11 and 2011-12 and ineligible football students played in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07. The public decision contains additional details.
- Fine of $500 per contest played by ineligible students.
- The school must return to the NCAA all funds it has received to date through the former Big East Conference revenue sharing for its appearances in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
- Suspension of the head basketball coach from the first nine conference games of 2015-16.
- Reduction of men’s basketball scholarships by three 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, the school may begin the four-year penalty with the 2016-17 year.
- Reduction in the number of permissible off-campus recruiters from four to two during June 1, 2015 through May 31, 2017.
- The panel also accepted the school’s self-imposed postseason ban for the 2014-15 season, but noted that self-imposition of penalties after the conclusion of infractions hearings does not influence the outcome.
- Additional self-imposed penalties can be found in the public decision.
Obviously academic fraud in a supposed academic setting is serious so on the surface you can certainly understand the severity of the sanctions. What will be interesting to see is how these sanctions play out for Syracuse who by no debate is one of the elite when it comes to NCAA basketball. Let’s also not forget how low the NCAA set the bar when it comes to sanctions on a school for serious violations. I’m guessing after Penn State basically got off with nothing more than a finger in the face and a slap on the wrist for shielding a serial child rapist, the NCAA will be buying Jim Boeheim dinner here in about a year.
h/t: The Big Lead