6 Division I Basketball Programs To Be Notified of Major NCAA Violations

By Ross Kelly June 13, 2019 at 11:10am

At least six Division I men’s basketball programs will be notified this summer that they committed Level 1 violations, according to CBS Sports.

Level I violations are the most serious infractions under NCAA rules and are defined as a “severe breach of conduct,” per the NCAA’s violation structure:

“Violations that seriously undermine or threaten the integrity of the NCAA collegiate model as set forth in the Constitution and bylaws, including any violation that provides or is intended to provide a substantial or extensive recruiting, competitive or other advantage, or a substantial or extensive impermissible benefit.”

This comes in the wake of the government recently completing an investigation into corruption in men’s college basketball.

Stan Wilcox, the NCAA’s vice president of regulatory affairs, told CBS Sports that two of the programs will be notified by early July and the other four will receive notices by the end of the summer.

“There’s even another group of cases that we’re still working on,” said Wilcox, who appeared on a panel Wednesday at an athletic directors conference in Orlando, Florida. “The main thing is that we’re up and ready. We’re moving forward, and you’ll see consequences.”

Possible consequences from Level I violations include loss of scholarship, postseason bans and show-cause penalties against coaches.

Administrators at Arizona, Kansas, Louisville, North Carolina State and Southern California have acknowledged their men’s basketball programs are under NCAA investigation, according to ESPN.

Other schools mentioned during the FBI’s investigation into college basketball include Oklahoma State, Auburn and LSU.

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In March, an FBI wiretap revealed that LSU coach Will Wade discussed an offer to a potential recruit, according to Yahoo Sports.

The Tigers suspended Wade the next day, and he missed out on coaching the team in the NCAA Tournament. The suspension was lifted in April after LSU’s season had ended.

The university then modified Wade’s contract to protect itself in the event that he was involved in a Level 1 violation. Wade’s new contract now allows LSU to fire him if he commits a Level 1 or Level 2 violation or also if the NCAA issues a notice that he was involved in a Level 1 or Level 2 violation, per The Advocate.

Wilcox wouldn’t reveal which schools will be receiving the notice of allegations, but he alluded to the fact that there may be even more notices in the future.

“I would just say that it’s clear when you look at the number of cases that were listed by the Southern District of New York, those numbers are more than likely be reflected in the number of cases that are going to be moving forward,” Wilcox said.

Kevin Lennon, the NCAA’s vice president for Division I governance, hinted that these notices of allegations were on their way during a May meeting of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

“You don’t get in the way of a federal investigation,” Lennon said to ESPN. “Activity was going on during that span that was within our purview; but now that the court cases are done, now we’re in a position where you’re likely to see notices of allegations going to institutions that have violated NCAA rules, etc. I think you can anticipate notices of allegations will be coming.”

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