NCAA releases rulings for South Carolina men's basketball
The NCAA released its findings on the South Carolina mens' basketball program with no major sanctions coming down from college basketball's governing body.
"During the NCAA investigation process, members of our athletics staff, Southeastern Conference staff and the NCAA Enforcement staff, met in Indianapolis to review the facts of the case," University of South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner said in a statement. "It was a cooperative meeting and I felt it was important in how we got to this conclusion."
The punishments do not include a postseason ban or scholarship reductions for the school with some minor recruiting restrictions making up a bulk of the penalties.
From the NCAA, a list of penalties levied by the NCAA:
- Two years of probation.
- A $5,000 fine (self-imposed by the university). Reduction of men’s basketball official visits to 25 during the 2020-21/2021-22 rolling two-year period (self-imposed by the university).
- Prohibition of unofficial visits in men’s basketball for a total of four weeks during the fall of 2021 and/or 2022 (self-imposed by the university).
- Prohibition of men’s basketball telephone recruiting for a six-week period during the 2020-21 and/or 2021-22 academic years (self-imposed by the university).
- A reduction in the number of men’s basketball recruiting person days by 17 during the 2020-21 and/or 2021-22 academic years (self-imposed by the university).
- A 10-year show-cause order for the former assistant coach. During that period, any NCAA member school employing him must restrict him from any athletically related duties unless it shows cause why the restrictions should not apply.
"I would like to thank our Board of Trustees, President Caslen, Coach Tanner, our administration, our campus leadership and our compliance department who have worked so hard for our program and to get us to this place," Frank Martin said in a statement. "Our compliance department does an unbelievable job working with and educating our staff and players. I'd also like to thank the NCAA, for the thoroughness and thoughtfulness that went into this process. As I have said throughout my entire career, I lead my program with transparency, an open-door policy and with integrity - it is in my heart and it is at the core of who I am. We move forward, and I'm thankful to have this situation behind us."
The notice of allegations came down in January of 2020 stemming from the actions of former assistant Lamont Evans and the FBI's racketeering case in college basketball.
In the notice the head coach was not given any lack of institutional control tags, and the punishments in this case don't include the two hardest to overcome with scholarship reductions or a postseason ban.
"Compliance with NCAA rules is essential inside our University, and it is essential that we are held accountable both as individuals and as an Institution," university president Bob Caslen said. "Once we are aware of any violation, we investigate, hold accountable, learn from it and put in place a process to make sure that it does not occur again. I am pleased how our athletics department handled this issue, and that the NCAA accepted our self-imposed sanctions."
