Missouri vacates wins, self-imposes postseason ban for NCAA violations
The Missouri men’s basketball program committed major NCAA violations under Frank Haith and faces several penalties, the school announced Wednesday.
After a joint review process in cooperation with the NCAA, the Tigers will vacate the 23 wins from the 2013–14 season and self-impose a one-year postseason ban effective immediately. The Tigers will not play in the SEC tournament or any other postseason competition and will not receive the associated revenue from those competitions. The school has also self-imposed an immediate one-scholarship reduction, and will lose another scholarship over the next two seasons.
2013–14 was Haith’s last season at the school before he left for Tulsa, where he is currently head coach. Missouri said it received notice of NCAA inquiry on April 14, 2014, four days before Haith was hired to coach the Golden Hurricane. Missouri says it found violations dating back to 2011, the most serious of which include the provision of impermissible benefits from a donor to three players and one recruit from 2013–2014 through a summer internship.
From the release:
“The impermissible benefits included compensating student-athletes for work-not-performed at a business through a summer internship program. Through the internship program, the donor also provided other impermissible inducements and extra benefits including housing, cash in the amount of $520, local transportation, iPads, meals and arranged for the use of a local gym for the student-athletes, all in violation of NCAA bylaws.”
Other violations include a second donor providing impermissible benefits to players (and in one case, a player’s family) from 2011–2014, including reduced rates at hotels, meals and “a ride on a recreational boat,” as well as a student manager providing transportation for players between campus and a hotel. Secondary violations include a former associate head coach helping a recruit move by putting his mother in touch with a donor to arrange for rental housing. The full list of violations can be found here.
According to the release, Missouri “permanently dissociated” from the first donor and banned the second from representing the school for two years. The coach in violation of rules was not allowed to recruit off-campus for three months during the review period. The program paid a $5,000 fine and players who received the benefits paid restitution.
“We have already taken many proactive steps to address concerns, including appropriate self-imposed sanctions,” said athletic director Mack Rhoades in a statement. “We will win at Mizzou and do so with integrity and class. I am satisfied the University fully cooperated with the NCAA and will continue to do so. We must do better and we will. Our working relationship with the current men's basketball staff is strong and I am confident in their commitment to upholding our standards and values for Mizzou Athletics.”
“We are obviously very disappointed that the actions of a few individuals have put our program in this situation,” said head coach Kim Anderson. “However, I am appreciative to Mack Rhoades and our staff for their guidance and support throughout this process. I hurt for our kids more than anything and for our only senior Ryan Rosburg in particular, but I am confident we will overcome this and be stronger as a team and as a staff because of it. We are committed to representing this great university and state with honor and integrity and that's what we are going to do.”
