The NCAA Notice of Allegations Michigan received last December regarding an investigation into impermissible contact during at COVID-19 recruiting dead period in 2021, has been released by the university with some redactions and few surprises.
Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh faced a Level I violation, the NCAA’s most severe, for “unethical or dishonest conduct and a failure to cooperate,” as had been widely reported last year. Four other violations were deemed Level II violations. Harbaugh admitted the program committed the Level II violations, but he never signed off on the allegation he was untruthful with the NCAA’s enforcement staff. The NCAA’s enforcement staff said in the NOA it believed a hearing panel could have entered a show-cause order for Harbaugh.
The 11-page Notice of Allegations (NOA) was obtained late Friday night by The Detroit News through an open-records request made shortly after the NOA was received by the university on Dec. 18, 2023. According to the response from Michigan’s Freedom of Information office, some information was redacted because disclosing would “constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy.”
The NCAA’s enforcement staff identified Allegation Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 as Level II violations.
According to the NOA, allegation No. 1 involved impermissible recruiting contact and inducements to three football recruits and their fathers. One of the prospects was given access to the football facilities and met with a coach in the weight room. The redacted NOA does not say which coach or coaches were involved, but a recruit and his father were met at a local restaurant and “the football program provided a discounted meal” and also allegedly had a free meal at a local restaurant. The recruit and his father were given a tour of the campus and visited the football facilities, where they were given a tour. The third recruit and his father were met at a local restaurant when they visited the campus. They were provided a tour of the campus, according to the NOA.
“The enforcement staff believes a hearing panel could conclude that Allegation No. 1 is Level II because the violations (a) were intentional, (b) were not isolated or limited, (c) provided or were intended to provide more than a minimal recruiting or other advantage, (d) involved multiple recruiting violations and (e) compromised the integrity of the NCAA Collegiate Model,” the NOA reads.
It is unclear in allegation No. 2, which coach was involved, but the enforcement staff alleged that during an interview with investigators in 2022, the coach failed to cooperate and provided misleading or false information.
“Regarding his knowledge of and/or involvement in the impermissible in-person on and off-campus recruiting contact detailed in Allegation Nos. 1-b, c and e,” the NOA reads. “Specifically, denied he met with then football prospective student-athlete 2 and prospective student-athlete 2’s father in 2021 and then football prospective student-athlete 3 and football prospective student-athlete 3’s father in 2021. However, the factual information establishes met with the football prospective student-athletes and their fathers.”
The third allegation involves Harbaugh and the “unethical or dishonest conduct.”
The NCAA issued a fourth allegation that involved the football staff’s involvement in on-campus evaluations and the use of non-coaching staff as hands-on coaches “in the presence of the assistant football coaches.”
Finally, the fifth allegation said that the first two allegations “demonstrate that the institution did not (a) effectively deter and/or detect the football program’s impermissible in-person on-campus and off-campus interactions with prospective student-athletes and (b) ensure the football program’s compliance with noncoaching staff member legislation during the 2021 period and on-campus evaluation restrictions.”
Harbaugh served a school-imposed three-game suspension at the start of the 2023 season in response to this investigation. Michigan’s football program remains under NCAA investigation for a separate issue involving an alleged sign-stealing scheme. Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten for the final three regular-season games in 2023 as a result of the second investigation that launched last October during the season.
After leading Michigan to a national championship in January, Harbaugh left his alma mater following his ninth season as coach to return to the NFL, where he is now the Los Angeles Chargers head coach. Sherrone Moore, who served a one-game suspension in the season opener last fall as part of a negotiation resolution with the NCAA in response to the investigation into impermissible visits during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period, is now Michigan’s head football coach.
Harbaugh is the only coach whose name was not redacted in Michigan’s release of the NOA. According to the NOA, “persons of authority condoned, participated in or negligently disregarded the violation or related wrongful conduct … (and) participated in and/or negligently disregarded in person on and off campus contact with prospective student-athletes during the temporary COVID-19 recruiting dead period.” It was described as “intentional, willful or blatant disregard for NCAA bylaws.”
On April 16, it was announced Michigan’s football program will serve three years of NCAA probation as a result of the violations during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period. The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions approved a negotiated resolution involving Michigan and five current or former staff members. Michigan, as part of the resolution, agreed to pay a fine and the staff members accepted one-year show cause orders as part of the Level II violations.
“Today’s joint resolution pertains to the University of Michigan Athletic Department and several former and current employees,” athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement at the time. “We are pleased to reach a resolution on this matter so that our student-athletes and our football program can move forward.”
Tom Mars, Harbaugh’s lawyer, told The Detroit News after this resolution that he had filed a lengthy response to the NOA on Harbaugh’s behalf.
“Which unfortunately has not been made public,” Mars said at the time. “I see that Michigan changed its position to get this resolved, which is not surprising. I can almost hear the wheels of the bus going ‘whomp, whomp.’”
@chengelis
Source link : https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2024/07/27/michigan-violations-detailed-in-release-of-ncaa-notice-of-allegations/74570181007/
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Publish date : 2024-07-27 10:37:21
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