COLUMBIA, MO. • The wait is over for the University of Missouri men’s basketball program. Twenty-nine weeks after Mizzou announced self-imposed sanctions for a series of NCAA violations, the NCAA Committee on Infractions upheld the penalties and determined the school failed to monitor the program.
The Committee on Infractions released its full report Tuesday and added one year of probation through Aug. 1, 2017.
“As responsible members of the SEC and the NCAA, we chose to self-report potential violations of bylaws and self-impose certain sanctions,” Missouri interim chancellor and interim athletics director Hank Foley said. “Today’s release of the Summary of Findings by the NCAA is a clear indication this was a wise decision by the University and allows us to put these issues behind us as we continue to rebuild a top-notch basketball program.”
In January, Mizzou said there was no evidence current coach Kim Anderson and his staff were aware of the offenses.
“Through cooperation between NCAA personnel, the University of Missouri and our Mizzou Athletics staff, we are now able to draw this process to a close,” Anderson said. “It has been my desire to move our program forward since learning of what had taken place. My staff and I are fully invested in our student-athletes and helping them achieve their goals on and off the court. Our program will continue to represent the University and the state of Missouri with honor and integrity.”
On Jan. 13, Missouri said it had spent 19 months working with the NCAA enforcement staff to review potential violations that took place during Frank Haith’s time as head coach. The investigation uncovered Level I major infractions — two boosters giving impermissible benefits to Haith’s players dating back to 2011 — among other violations. The total amount of impermissible inducements and extra benefits provided by the boosters was $11,402.
Five months after the NCAA received a tip from a confidential source alleging potential violations involving an unnamed Missouri player, the NCAA enforcement staff issued a verbal notice of inquiry to Mizzou on April 14, 2014. Four days later, Haith accepted the head-coaching job at Tulsa.
Here were the self-sanctions Missouri announced in January that the NCAA approved:
• Jakeenan Gant, then a freshman, was suspended for the first nine games of the 2014-15 season. The other players who received impermissible benefits were no longer with the program when MU and the NCAA launched the investigation.
• MU vacated all wins from the 2013-14 season. The Tigers were 23-13 that season under Haith, his last year at Mizzou.
• MU paid the NCAA a $5,000 fine.
• The basketball team self-imposed the loss of one scholarship in 2015-16 and an additional scholarship to be incurred no later than the 2017-18 season.
• MU placed restrictions on the recruiting activities of the coaching staff during the years of 2014-15 through 2016-17. Anderson’s staff is prohibited from talking to recruits on the phone for six weeks during the 2016-17 academic year.
• Former associate head coach Tim Fuller was prohibited from off-campus recruiting for three months.
• MU imposed a one-year postseason ban for the 2015-16 men’s basketball season, which included the SEC Tournament.
• MU permanently disassociated a booster and prohibited him from receiving tickets, making donations or otherwise representing the university. That booster was Mark Tuley, chief executive of T3 Solutions, a national intelligence company based out of Martinez, Ga. The Huntsville, Mo., native attended Mizzou from 1998-2000.
• MU disassociated a second booster, and his wife, for a period of two years. Sources have identified that booster as Fred Dehner, the general manager of Tan-Tar-A Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks.
Tuley was found to have provided improper benefits to four players during two-week summer internships in 2013 and 2014. The players were paid between $1,000 and $1,100 for work not performed, the report said. Other benefits included housing, cash, transportation, access to a local gym, iPads and meals amounting to $10,436. They were ruled Level I major violations.
The players have since been identified as Jordan Clarkson, Tony Criswell, Cam Biedscheid and Gant.
From July 2011 to July 2014, Dehner was found to have provided impermissible benefits to 11 players and three members of a players’ family. The benefits included reduced rates at his hotel, plus meals and a free two-hour ride on his recreational boat. The value of the extra benefits amounted to $966. This was considered a Level II violation.
The panel faulted Mizzou’s compliance department for not properly vetting the summer internships.
“However, the institution disclosed during the investigation that (Tuley) made attempts to deceive its athletics compliance staff to avoid detection of the true nature of his ‘internship’ program,” the report said.
The enforcement panel noted Mizzou’s “exemplary cooperation,” “collaboration” and “quest for the truth.”
As part of its one-year probation Mizzou is eligible for postseason play for the 2016-17 season but must implement a program to educate coaches and staff on NCAA rules, file annual compliance reports with the Committee on Infractions and inform recruits in writing about the violations.
Anderson’s team leaves Friday for a 10-day trip to Italy, where the Tigers will play four exhibition games.
Scott Tompsett, Haith’s Kansas City-based attorney, released a statement Tuesday, saying, “Coach Haith cooperated fully with the NCAA’s investigation and was not named in or held responsible for any of the violations.”
Dave Matter
@dave_matter on Twitter
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