U. Connecticut announced Friday morning that it has received a notice of allegations from the NCAA, citing eight violations in the men’s basketball program.
The alleged violations include improper phone calls and text messages to recruits and giving recruits improper benefits. Coach Jim Calhoun was cited for failing to “promote and atmosphere of compliance” in the program.
The notice also included allegations against two members of the basketball staff for providing false and misleading information to NCAA Enforcement staff and to the institution. The announcement comes a day after the two accused staff, Assistant Coach Patrick Sellers and Director of Basketball Operations Beau Archibald, resigned from their positions.
The University was cited for failing to adequately monitor the conduct and administration of the men’s basketball program, specifically in regards to telephone records, representatives of the programs interests, and complimentary admissions or discretionary tickets.
UConn released the notice from the NCAA following a 15-month investigation, stemming from initial reports by Yahoo! Sports in March 2009 that the program had made improper contact to recruit Nate Miles through former student manager Josh Nochimson in 2008.
UConn has until August 20 to respond to the allegations, and school representatives will appear before the NCAA Committee on Infractions in October.
“Let me be clear that the University of Connecticut is fully committed to NCAA rules compliance and takes this matter very seriously,” said Director of Athletics Jeffrey Hathaway in a prepared statement.
“During these past fifteen months, we have fully cooperated with the NCAA’s into our recruitment of a particular student athlete and other matters generally related to the recruitment and conduct of our program,” said coach Jim Calhoun. “In this regard, we are steadfast in our belief that we operate a program deeply committed to complying with the NCAA’s guidelines.”
The University and the athletic department said that they will not comment further on the allegations because “this is an ongoing process with the NCAA.”