Manalishi. Part I. Happy Thanksgiving...
manalishi
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Posted: Today 2:32 PM
Re: unc's (eventual) sanctions -- information primer (x2)
To those who still think unc will get a “wrist slap” – whether they be people who have only listened to and bought the PR spin, or they are pessimists who refuse to look at logic and rationale…
A closer look at the recent SMU and Syracuse infractions and penalties, as well as older sections of the NCAA handbook, will give good insight into what will basically be the “floor” that unc can expect with its own sanctions.
The SMU infractions covered the dates post-2012, which meant that they were penalized under the new (harsher) penalty matrix.
Some important distinctions:
-- The basketball portion of SMU’s infractions involved ONE (prospective, at the time of the infraction) student athlete whose work in a summer online course was completed by a tutor.
-- As part of the penalties, the SMU basketball team was forced to vacate all of the victories in which that player participated during his succeeding Freshman season.
-- Some of the terms used in SMU’s infractions-explanation:
“… institutions act through their staff and the institution’s staff committed multiple Level I violations in this case.”
-- Along with the vacated victories that the affected player participated in, the basketball program also lost nine scholarships over three seasons, was handed a one-year postseason ban, was given recruiting restrictions, was levied fines, and the coach was given a partial suspension. Again, this was for one player whose work (in an online course) was done by a tutor.
-- SMU received the above sanctions despite NOT being charged with “Lack of Institutional Control”, the most serious allegation that the NCAA can give a school.
“Although SMU’s case involved Level I violations, the panel did not conclude there was a
lack of institutional control or a failure to comply with the terms of probation.”
Of note --
The Committee on Infractions members who comprised the panel that heard SMU’s case were:
Michael F. Adams (Chief Hearing Officer)
Greg Christopher
Jack Ford
Thomas Hill
James O'Fallon
Sankar Suryanarayan
///
SMU’s case pales in comparison to unc’s, primarily because it was essentially one (basketball) athlete for SMU (along with some issues with the golf program), versus hundreds of athletes (across several high-profile sports) for unc.
The Syracuse case is closer to unc’s case for several reasons.
-- It happened over an extended amount of time.
-- Its basketball program was affected.
-- It was judged under the NCAA’s old penalty structure.
The Syracuse infractions that were covered in the NOA primarily spanned dates that preceded the so-called “new penalty matrix”. As a result, Syracuse was penalized under the old penalty structure.
Breakdown of the Syracuse Infractions Decision
Some important phrases and distinctions:
-- “The institution failed to control and monitor athletics and academic initiatives it set in motion – ultimately resulting in extensive academic misconduct, including four instances of academic fraud and three instances in which student-athletes received academic extra benefits.”
Analysis: Both the Wainstein Report and the NCAA’s own Notice of Allegations (and supporting documentation/exhibits) confirms that unc’s case dealt with hundreds of instances of academic fraud – which were classified as “impermissible benefits” in the NOA. (more on those semantics later)
-- “The duration and nature of violations in this case required strong penalties beyond what the institution self-imposed. Improper institutional involvement and influence in a student-athlete's academic work in order to gain or maintain eligibility is a violation of NCAA rules and a violation of the most fundamental core values of the NCAA and higher education. The behavior in this case, which placed the desire to achieve success on the basketball court over academic integrity, demonstrated clearly misplaced institutional priorities. Similarly, many of the violations occurred as a result of persons of leadership engaging in or condoning conduct that was contrary to the NCAA Constitution and bylaws.”
Analysis:
The wording in the above paragraph is extremely important, as it imparts the thinking of the “new” NCAA that has emerged over the past few years as it prepares for several upcoming litigation cases. For that reason, that line of thinking will also be applied to the decision-making process in unc’s eventual sanctions.
-- An explanation of why Syracuse was judged under the older, more lenient, penalty structure was given:
“Because the violations in this case straddled the implementation of the new penalty structure, the institution was entitled to the more lenient penalty structure. The panel conducted a penalty analysis under both the current and former penalty structures and determined former NCAA Bylaw 19.5.2 provided the more lenient penalties.”
Analysis:
Given the above explanation, in all likelihood it can be expected that unc will be judged under the old structure as well – unless there is wording somewhere in the NCAA bylaws that allow for mitigating factors to play a role.
-- Under the more lenient structure, Syracuse was given the following:
“In accordance with former NCAA Bylaw 19.5.2, the panel prescribed a five-year probationary period; a financial penalty; three scholarship reductions per year over a four-year period in men's basketball (reduced to two per year following an appeal); the panel accepted the institution's post-hearing self-imposed one-year postseason ban in men's basketball; a vacation of victories in which ineligible student-athletes participated; a nine-game suspension from conference games for the head basketball coach; two-years of recruiting restrictions in men's basketball and other appropriate and standard administrative penalties as detailed in the penalty section of this decision.”
-- In reference to the oft-asked question of why unc has been charged with Impermissible Benefits instead of Academic Fraud (despite the seemingly-obvious existence of widespread fraud/cheating that was detailed in both the Wainstein Report and the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations to the school), the following from Syracuse’s report sheds some valuable insight:
“The institution identified these instances as potential academic integrity violations. The enforcement staff deferred to the institution to determine whether its academic integrity policy had been violated. Pursuant to the institution's policies and procedures, it reviewed the matters. In each instance involving the support services mentor, the course instructor could not locate a copy of the submitted work. As a result, the institution determined that the student-athletes had not violated the institution's academic integrity policy. Thereafter, the enforcement staff, operating under the authority of the Legislative Council's April 2014 official interpretation on academic misconduct determined that allegations of extra benefits legislation were warranted.”
Analysis:
As has been mentioned at various times in the past, in most situations the NCAA leaves it up to a school to determine if academic fraud has been committed. This plays into the whole “the NCAA isn’t going to tell schools how a class should be taught” stance.
When Syracuse came back and said that its student-athletes had not violated its academic integrity policy, then instead of charging the school with academic fraud, the NCAA classified the transgressions as extra benefits (as noted above in bold).
This is almost exactly what has happened in unc’s case, though on a much broader and more complex scale. unc has certainly never officially admitted to any sort of academic fraud with regards to its dealings with the NCAA. As a result, the NCAA then moved forward and deemed all of those instances/irregularities as impermissible benefits.
They will ultimately carry the same penalties no matter how they are named, as both lead to (retroactive) loss of eligibility.
More wording from the Syracuse report that is relevant to unc’s case:
“As was suggested earlier, the record clearly suggests a pattern of behavior. The director of basketball operations (whom the head basketball coach hired to "fix" the academic problems) and the men's basketball facility receptionist would monitor the email accounts of the student-athletes, would identify potential academic situations and deficiencies in coursework completion that might create eligibility problems, and then proceed to work in concert to remedy the problem. The result was the academic performance of the basketball student-athletes improved and fewer student-athletes were ineligible. However, the extreme level of academic assistance not only violated the institution's own policies for tutors and support service providers but also NCAA rules that preclude student-athletes from being provided academic benefits that are not available to the general population.”
Analysis:
As with Syracuse, a definite “pattern of behavior” is evident in unc’s case.
Furthermore, mention was made in unc’s Notice of Allegations about the eligibility of players being affected, and the fact that the student-athletes were provided academic benefits not available to the general population.
As a result, one can expect to see similar wording in unc’s impending report, and can expect such issues to have an effect on unc’s sanctions...