Former University of Louisiana-Lafayette assistant coach David Saunders arranged fraudulent college entrance exam scores for five student-athletes and denied his involvement, the NCAA ruled Tuesday. The NCAA placed the Ragin’ Cajuns football program on two years of probation and fined $5,000 and stripped of six scholarships over the next two years. The NCAA also slapped an eight-year show-cause on former assistant coaches that will expire on January 11, 2024. The school must also vacate any wins from the 2012 through 2014 seasons that ineligible players participated.
Saunders is now the head coach of Pearl River Community College in Mississippi, but it will be ULL that suffers from his violations. ULL has already vacated all wins from the 2011 season, including a memorable New Orleans Bowl victory, and reduced the scholarships by 11 over a three-year period as the investigation was ongoing. The self-imposed penalties by ULL were accepted by the NCAA, but the organization still felt it was important to tack on additional penalties given the severity of the accusations and violations. Among the violations listed in the ruling released Tuesday, Saunders is accused of paying one student-athlete $6,5000 over two semesters.
“We are pleased that the Committee on Infractions recognized that the University did not have involvement in or knowledge of Level 1 violations and imposed on us the lowest level of penalties,” UL Lafayette President Dr. Joseph Savoie said in a released statement. “Further, the Committee recognized our full cooperation and determination to get to the truth surrounding the allegations.”
ULL has filed a lawsuit against ACT, Inc. seeking damages for failure to detect improper test administration or exam results at one of its testing sites and failure to notify the NCAA or ULL of any irregularities in the entrance exam process.
