By ADAM ZAGORIA
UConn has self-imposed a series of penalties in response to the NCAA Notice of Allegations, including reducing the number of scholarships for the 2019-20 season from 13 to 12 and paying a $5,000 fine to the NCAA.
UConn’s decision to self-impose penalties is an attempt to head off further punishment by the NCAA down the road. UConn won the NCAA title in 2014 during Kevin Ollie’s first year at the helm. Ollie was fired last March and is suing UConn, alleging it racially discriminated against him.
“Our athletics department recognizes its responsibility to promote an atmosphere of honesty and integrity as it relates to NCAA compliance and beyond,” UConn AD David Benedict said in a statement. “We take these allegations very seriously and will continue to fully cooperate with the NCAA throughout this process.”
This comes as first-year coach Dan Hurley is attempting to rebuild the program. Hurley came to UConn this season after previous stints at Rhode Island and Wagner, and now has to deal with sanctions and lawsuits in Ollie’s wake.
“I understand the decision by our athletic administration to impose these penalties,” Hurley said. “We have been preparing for this eventuality and will make the necessary adjustments to move forward.”
The official University response said that “The violations committed by former men’s head basketball coach Kevin Ollie and his staff are not in keeping with the University’s commitment to compliance.”
The statement referred to Ollie’s “cavalier” attitude toward NCAA compliance, and added, “While the University unequivocally accepts responsibility for the actions of its former coaching staff, there is no evidence that it either knew or should have known about the violations.”
Kevin Ollie had Rudy Gay and Ray Allen FaceTime a recruit during his official to @UConnMBB. That’s a blatant NCAA Violation pic.twitter.com/da2Q6FyUK1
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 18, 2019
These are the penalties imposed: 1) Limit the number of permissible grants-in-aid from 13 to 12 for the 2019-20 academic year 2) Enforce a one-week ban on unofficial visits during the 2018-2019 academic year 3) Enforce a one-week ban on recruiting communications during the 2018-2019 academic year 4) Reduce by one the number of allowable official visits during the 2018-19 academic year 5) Reduce from 130 to 126 the number of allowable recruiting person days during the 2018-19 academic year 6) Pay a $5,000 fine to the NCAA 7) Prohibit student-managers from attending pick-up basketball games involving men’s basketball student-athletes during the non-championship segment (8-hour weeks) during the 2018-19 academic year Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter And like ZAGS on FacebookDoesn’t sound like Kevin Ollie read or paid attention to the NCAA rule book all that much pic.twitter.com/RPwicxlvtb
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 18, 2019
