Morgan State penalized for ineligible athletes
NCAA panel imposes penalties
Morgan State improperly certified the eligibility of 94 student-athletes in 10 sports and erroneously provided financial aid to student-athletes in nine sports for four years, according to findings by an NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions panel.
The panel, an independent administrative body of the NCAA made of individuals from the Division I membership and public, said
Penalties imposed by the panel Tuesday for the violations include four years of probation through Dec. 18, 2021; a one-year postseason ban for softball, tennis and football; a $5,000 financial penalty, plus 1 percent of the 2017-18 budgets of football, softball and women’s tennis programs; scholarship reductions of 5 percent for the 2018-19 academic year in the 10 sports where violations occurred; and recruiting restrictions in the 10 sports, including a seven-week ban on unofficial visits and off-campus recruiting, official visit reductions and communications restrictions.
“Morgan State lacked institutional control due its failure to manage the eligibility certification and financial aid processes,” NCAA director of public and media relations Stacey Osborn wrote in Tuesday’s statement. “Due to the university’s lack of monitoring and control, student-athletes practiced and competed while ineligible. This included those who had not yet received their eligibility certification or met the eligibility standards. Other student-athletes competed while enrolled less than full time, without meeting their progress-toward-degree requirements or after their eligibility was exhausted.”
The NCAA said the case was resolved through the summary disposition process, a cooperative effort in which the involved parties collectively submit the case to the Committee on Infractions in written form instead of a formal in-person hearing.
According to a statement released Tuesday by the university announcing the panel’s findings, during a routine Academic Performance Plan data review of the school, the NCAA Academic and Membership Affairs staffers alerted Morgan State’s athletics department of the discovery of multiple progress-toward-degree violations. The review began in 2015, was completed in 2016, and was followed by an investigation and hearing process.
It was determined that during the 2012-13 to 2015-16 academic years, 94 student-athletes competed and received expenses while ineligible or not properly certified.
In addition, the university failed to withhold these student-athletes from competition before the reinstatement of their eligibility.