MOskins56
August-11th-2003, 06:27 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44718-2003Aug11.html
Terps Get Probation for Payments to Football Recruit
By Greg Sandoval
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 11, 2003; 3:16 PM
The NCAA has placed the University of Maryland on probation for one year and publicly reprimanded the school as a result of a $335 cash payment to a recruit made by a former assistant football coach late last year.
The NCAA's Committee on Infractions found that the former assistant, who has been identified as Rod Sharpless, provided one recruit with cash payments "ranging from $5 to $200 on five different occasions," the NCAA said in a statement today.
In addition, Sharpless met with recruits during "quiet periods," when coaches are prohibited from contacting them.
The committee on infractions, which determines whether NCAA rules have been broken and decides on punishment, agreed with Maryland about the number of violations but differed on the severity of the infractions.
Maryland concluded its investigation of Sharpless and defensive end Victor Abiamiri and school representatives by announcing on Feb. 20 that it had found no additional improprieties and that it considered the infraction a secondary violation, which do not carry significant penalties such as probation or postseason bans.
The NCAA, however, determined the violation to be "major."
"The impermissible actions of the assistant coach formed a pattern of deliberate violations with a prospect of an elite stature that spanned virtually the entire period that the assistant coach was permitted to recruit the prospect," the committee said in a statement.
In the near term, being placed on probation has little impact on a school, said David Swank, former member of the NCAA's Committee On Infractions. The school is asked to report on how it's ensuring that it won't violate rules in the future. The stigma of probation, however, can be hurtful during recruiting season.
"The schools you recruit against will say 'Stay away from them, they're on probation,'" Swank said. "It sounds bad. It's a black eye."
In the long term, a school that has been found guilty of two major infractions within a five-year period could face stiff sanctions under the NCAA's "Repeat Violator Rule," said Swank.
Terps Get Probation for Payments to Football Recruit
By Greg Sandoval
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 11, 2003; 3:16 PM
The NCAA has placed the University of Maryland on probation for one year and publicly reprimanded the school as a result of a $335 cash payment to a recruit made by a former assistant football coach late last year.
The NCAA's Committee on Infractions found that the former assistant, who has been identified as Rod Sharpless, provided one recruit with cash payments "ranging from $5 to $200 on five different occasions," the NCAA said in a statement today.
In addition, Sharpless met with recruits during "quiet periods," when coaches are prohibited from contacting them.
The committee on infractions, which determines whether NCAA rules have been broken and decides on punishment, agreed with Maryland about the number of violations but differed on the severity of the infractions.
Maryland concluded its investigation of Sharpless and defensive end Victor Abiamiri and school representatives by announcing on Feb. 20 that it had found no additional improprieties and that it considered the infraction a secondary violation, which do not carry significant penalties such as probation or postseason bans.
The NCAA, however, determined the violation to be "major."
"The impermissible actions of the assistant coach formed a pattern of deliberate violations with a prospect of an elite stature that spanned virtually the entire period that the assistant coach was permitted to recruit the prospect," the committee said in a statement.
In the near term, being placed on probation has little impact on a school, said David Swank, former member of the NCAA's Committee On Infractions. The school is asked to report on how it's ensuring that it won't violate rules in the future. The stigma of probation, however, can be hurtful during recruiting season.
"The schools you recruit against will say 'Stay away from them, they're on probation,'" Swank said. "It sounds bad. It's a black eye."
In the long term, a school that has been found guilty of two major infractions within a five-year period could face stiff sanctions under the NCAA's "Repeat Violator Rule," said Swank.