Bama gets hit hard by NCAA; Smith to stay at Tennessee for Senior season
The news out of Tuscaloosa isn’t good today.
The NCAA is reportedly going to place Alabama’s football program on three years probation and strip the school of up to 10 wins as a result of violations of textbook disbursement policy.
Additionally, Alabama will pay a fine. There will be no reduction of scholarships or bowl penalties.
The penalties are the result of student-athletes arranging for free textbooks for friends. Five football players, including starting linemen Antoine Caldwell and Marlon Davis and running back Glen Coffee, were suspended for four games in 2007. Although Bama lost three of its next four games, they crushed Tennessee 41-17, the day after the suspensions were announced.
The infractions occurred during Bama’s five year probationary period, which meant the University could have faced much more serious penalties. UA self-reported the violations when they were discovered more than a year and a half ago, although did not announce the situation to the public until three months after appearing before the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions.
Football wasn’t the only sport involved. It has been reported that more than 200 UA athletes covering most sports participated. The problem was discovered by an employee of the University of Alabama Supply Store when a student account in excess of $1600 was found.
Bama hoped to avoid having to forfeit games, but the NCAA noted that the infractions went on for at least two years before being discovered, and that it could constitute a major infraction under the Lack of Institutional Control catagory.
Alabama has not decided whether to appeal the decision.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Tennessee’s Tyler Smith has withdrawn his name from the NBA draft and will return to the Vols for his senior season. Smith said the opportunity to stay and graduate, as well as be a part of what he called a “special” team, won out over the NBA.
Most likely the fact that most scouts projected Smith as an early second round pick weighed in the process, too.
June 14th, 2009 at 12:15 am
The Tide sounds like they did the right thing when they discovered the text scam. Maybe this kind of thing is more prevalent than most realize. Its enticing to sell books you never paid for in the first place. Guess the NCAA realizes now that taking away bowl games hurts the whole conderence not just the guilty school. Vacating wins is kind of meaningless, anyone can google a score on any given day. Instead of losing post season play losing a couple of scholarships might have been more approriate punishment. Won’t cripple a schools ability to compete but make it walk a super rightgeous path since Alabama has a tarnished track record.