Earlier this month, a portion of the NCAA’s response to Miami’s motion to dismiss its infractions case was passed along via CBSSports.com. Now, more blurbs from that response to the Committee on Infractions have been revealed through CBSSports and the Associated Press.
The NCAA’s enforcement staff claims, among other things, that Miami is “grasping at straws” to discredit members of the enforcement team, and that it is “offended” (LULZ!!!1!1!!) by remarks in the motion.
(Updated: You can read the entire 42-page document HERE)
“In the enforcement staff’s view, the motions to dismiss are largely based on assumptions, false accusations, misleading statements and meritless claims about the enforcement staff and its investigation. For the reasons set forth below, the enforcement staff requests that the Committee on Infractions deny the motions,” Interim Vice President of Enforcement Jonathan Duncan wrote.
Specifically, the enforcement staff fires back at UM’s assertion that it was “wronged” by the fact that former athletic director Paul Dee, now deceased, was never interviewed.
“Though the enforcement staff did not interview Dee prior to his untimely passing, it was not due to oversight or inattention,” the response reads. “In this case, the enforcement staff planned to and did conduct interviews relating to institutional control issues in June 2012, approximately three weeks after Dee’s passing. Because Dee’s death was unexpected, the enforcement staff could not have predicted that he would not be available for an interview in June 2012. Had the institution or enforcement staff known of Dee’s condition or impending death, the enforcement staff would have exhausted all reasonable efforts to preserve Dee’s testimony.”
The response also comes to the defense of members of the enforcement team, including investigators Brynna Barnhart and Stephanie Hannah.
”... Overall, the enforcement staff believes that the institution is again grasping at straws in an attempt to disqualify members of the enforcement team with the most knowledge about the case. Not only are these personal attacks based on no evidence that would support the removal of Barnhart and Hannah from the case, they are also not a basis for dismissal of the case in its entirety.”
However, the Miami Herald reported last month that, according to the law firm that conducted the NCAA’s external review of the investigation, Hannah didn’t know her work with Nevin Shapiro‘s attorney, started by her predecessor, Ameen Najjar, was previously given the no-go from the NCAA’s legal team.
“Ms. Hannah assumed there was nothing amiss about the arrangement [with Maria Elena Perez] and that it had been completely blessed prior to her involvement in the case,” Ken Wainstein of the Cadwalader law firm previously told the Herald in an email.
There’s more, but the point is clear: the NCAA made its apology and is now back on its moral high horse. And, in all likelihood, the case will move toward a June hearing with the COI.
But the only thing offensive about this case is the NCAA’s use of the word “offensive”, showing once again how little self-awareness college athletics’ governing body has.