Here we are less than a month until the start of the 2010 regular season, and, of course, we’re talking about NCAA investigations.
The latest school to become the apple of the NCAA’s investigative eye? Miami of Florida.
According to the Miami Herald, several sports at the university are being investigated by the NCAA for coaches sending recruiting-related text messages not permitted under the governing body’s bylaws. Obviously, the football program is one of the sports under investigation.
The Herald writes that, while the alleged impermissible texts would normally be classified as secondary violations, they could collectively be considered a major violation. Fortunately for the Hurricanes athletic department, the school self-reported the violations upon become aware of the texts.
A source told the paper that the NCAA reviewed the phone and text-messaging records of all UM athletic teams during the course of the investigation.
“The University of Miami’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics discovered possible NCAA violations involving impermissible text messages and telephone calls to prospective student-athletes,” UM said in a statement. “After conducting an audit, the University has self-reported its findings to the NCAA, and a joint investigation has been launched. The University will take appropriate steps to ensure full compliance with NCAA rules and regulations. As this is an on-going process, the University will have no further comment at this time.”
At this point in time, it’s unclear how many violations were uncovered in the probe, which was launched this past January.
As far as potential penalties are concerned, Manny Navarro of the Herald pointed his Twitter followers to a fairly recent case that, on the surface, appears to be similar to the Hurricanes’ situation.
In January of 2009, the NCAA found that assistant football coaches at the University at Albany had, on a total of 36 occasions, sent impermissible texts to potential recruits. Additionally, “the committee found that the university’s failure to detect and prevent the text messages sent by the football staff demonstrated a failure to monitor.”
As a result of those findings, Albany received penalties such as a two-year probation, scholarship reductions and recruiting restrictions.
Again, referencing the Albany case is not to say that these are the penalties Miami will be facing; rather, it’s simply put out there for comparison’s sake.
