The NCAA has just announced a sweeping four-year probation sentence for Florida State University Seminole athletics, encompassing ten varsity sports. While lauded for cooperating with NCAA investigators, the school-recommended two-year probation sentence was doubled, and additional penalties were levied.
While primarily affecting head coach Bobby Bowden’s football squad, men’s basketball was implicated in the scandal as well, along with baseball, softball, men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s golf, and women’s basketball. At issue is the conduct of athletics academic advisers and tutors, who allegedly prepared portions of assignments and provided test answers for upwards of 61 student-athletes.
From ESPN:
The NCAA determined that a former learning specialist, academic advisor and tutor gave “improper assistance” to Florida State athletes who were taking online courses. According to the NCAA, the former learning specialist typed portions of papers for at least three athletes and also provided answers to an online psychology course quiz by instructing another athlete to complete the quiz on behalf of the athlete enrolled in the course.
The committee stated this case was “extremely serious” because of the large number of student-athletes involved and the fact that academic fraud is considered by the committee to be among the most egregious of NCAA rules violations.
Florida State’s probation extends through March 5, 2013.
And here is the official violation and penalty summaries:
Violation Summary: Violations of NCAA legislation involving three former University Athletics Academic Support Services staff members (including a former learning specialist) who gave improper assistance resulting in academic fraud to numerous student-athletes representing multiple sport programs. There were also associated violations relating to the provision of impermissible benefits and a failure to monitor by the institution.
Penalty Summary: Additional penalties imposed by the committee were as follows: public reprimand and censure; four years of probation (the institution had proposed a period of two years); additional limits in the number of grants-in-aid in football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s track and field, baseball, softball and men’s golf; vacation of all records in which the 61 student-athletes competed while ineligible during 2006 and 2007 in the sports of football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s track and field, baseball, softball and men’s golf; show-cause order for the former learning specialist for a period of four years; show-cause order for the former tutor for a period of three years; show-cause order for the former academic advisor for a period of five years; annual compliance reporting required.
Lastly, also from the Orlando Sentinel, the juicy details:
[Dennis Thomas, the vice chair of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions and the acting chair for the FSU academic fraud case] said the online exams in the music course were not administered in a structured environment. He also said that FSU’s academic advising services department was not supervised in a consistent manner.
An NCAA spokeswoman clarified that it’s FSU’s job to determine whether ineligible students participated in an intercollegiate event. Anytime ineligible students participated in an intercollegiate event, the school must vacate wins from those games. Then, the school must report those findings to the NCAA.
An NCAA spokeswoman clarified the difference between forfeitures and vacating games and records. Vacating records means that FSU will lose wins or records, but that the opponents’ records from those games will not change.
Thomas acknowledged that the Committee had no evidence that FSU played ineligible athletes it knew to be ineligible.
Florida State also has the opportunity to appeal, howeverin our experience these rulings are almost never overturned, but additional evidence, especially with regard to intent, may allow the reduction of certain sanctions. We’ll provide update when information regarding the men’s basketball program is disclosed.
