The NCAA slapped West Virginia with probation for self-reported recruiting violations in 14 different sports, including football.
According to a release from the NCAA, coaches from those sports “sent impermissible texts and placed impermissible calls to prospects and parents” between June 2010 and February 2013. The majority of the violations stemmed from the women’s gymnastics, football, women’s basketball and women’s soccer programs. Those programs committed “Level II violations,” while men’s basketball, baseball, men’s soccer, men’s wrestling, women’s tennis, women’s volleyball, men’s swimming, women’s diving, women’s rowing and women’s track and field all were determined to have committed “Level III violations.”
The violations committed by the football program were detailed in the NCAA’s Public Infractions Decision:
The enforcement staff and the institution agreed that between August 2010 and February 2013, 10 members of the football coaching staff and the football recruiting coordinator violated NCAA recruiting communication legislation by sending 46 impermissible text messages and placing 22 impermissible telephone calls to 45 football prospective student-athletes and one parent of a prospective student-athlete.
WVU previously self-imposed several sanctions stemming from earlier violations. Now, the athletic department will be subjected to two years of probation (through Feb. 17, 2017) and recruiting restrictions.
Per the NCAA’s release, several coaches involved (it does not specify which sports) “claimed a misunderstanding in some of the recruiting communication rules.” The school also cited confusion with certain compliance software.
From the NCAA:
A number of the coaches involved in the violations claimed a misunderstanding in some of the recruiting communication rules, which was the reason many of the violations occurred. Additionally, the school did not fully understand how to use compliance software it purchased to monitor phone and text activity. It wasn’t until the software company updated the software that the school learned of the violations. The violations occurred while the school was on probation from a previous infractions case.
None of the football coaches involved were named in the NCAA’s report.
In a statement, WVU athletic director Shane Lyons expressed disappointment with the NCAA's report.
“While I am disappointed with today's NCAA report, I do take note that our department found the infractions, self-reported them and worked with the NCAA in full cooperation to address and correct the issues," Lyons said.
"I am confident that the department has taken the necessary steps to correct its compliance and recruiting software program, re-educate the staff on updated NCAA changes on the rules surrounding text messages and phone calls and fulfilled our obligations to the NCAA concerning the situation long before I started as athletic director back on Feb. 2. Moving forward, I expect our department to continue its strong dedication to NCAA compliance.”
For more West Virginia news, visit WVSports.com.
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