NCAA Gives Ex-Pitt Basketball Coach Kevin Stallings Three-Year Show Cause for Violations
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The NCAA announced level II coaching violations committed by Pitt's men's basketball and football programs on Thursday, including giving a three-year show cause to former Panthers men's basketball coach Kevin Stallings.
Between June 2016 and March 2018, Stallings, who was unnamed in the NCAA's report, allowed non-coaching staff members to regularly perform coaching duties. This resulted in in the program exceeding the number of permissible coaches.
At the direction of Stallings, the men's basketball program deleted practice film in an attempt to hide the violations and prevent the administration from detecting it.
"The former men's basketball coach did not promote an atmosphere for compliance," the NCAA said. "The former men's basketball coach was involved directly in the violations, and he did not end the violations after being warned by athletics department administrators."
Between May-September 2017, the men's basketball program made personalized recruiting videos for 12 prospects to watch during their official or unofficial visits to campus.
The violations within the Panthers' football program include head coach Pat Narduzzi, who was also not named in the report, being present at the team's practice facility when three quality control members engaged in impermissible coaching activities. These activities took place from August 2015-November 2017 and included them throwing footballs and holding play cards for the scout teams during practices. As a result, the football program exceeded the permissible number of countable coaches.
Narduzzi also asked a quality control staff member to assist with practice drills in 2017 between October 22 and November 23.
As a result of these infractions, Pitt's athletic department received three years of probation, which will end on February 19, 2023.
In addition to Stallings' three-year show cause, Narduzzi received a show cause order that says he cannot attend two days of team practices in August 2020. If Stallings is employed by a member school during the period of his show cause, he must be suspended from 30% of the first season of his employment. Stallings has not coached since Pitt fired him in March 2018 following a disastrous season where the Panthers finished 8–24 overall and 0–18 in ACC play.
