Institution: DePaul University

Date: July 23, 2019

Violation Summary: The DePaul men’s basketball head coach violated NCAA head coach responsibility rules when he did not stop or prevent violations from occurring in his program. Further, a former associate head coach violated NCAA ethical conduct rules when he knowingly directed the former director of basketball operations to provide impermissible recruiting benefits to a recruit. The men’s basketball program recruited the student-athlete, who had graduated from high school but had not yet met NCAA initial eligibility requirements. To help ensure the necessary coursework was completed, the committee said a former associate head coach arranged for the assistant director of basketball operations to live with the prospect. The assistant director of basketball operations did not complete the prospect’s coursework, but he monitored the recruit’s progress, limited his extracurricular activities and ensured tests were taken. The student-athlete met eligibility requirements and enrolled at the university. Because the arrangement was an impermissible recruiting benefit, the committee said the student-athlete competed while ineligible. The arrangement also involved impermissible recruiting contact, which caused the men’s basketball program to exceed the number of allowable coaches

Penalty Summary: • Three years of probation. • Suspension of the head coach from the first three regular-season games of the 2019-20 season. • A three-year show-cause order for the former associate head coach. During that period, any NCAA member school employing him must restrict him from any athletically related duties unless it shows cause why the restrictions should not apply. • A vacation of records in which the men’s basketball student-athlete competed while ineligible. The university must provide a written report containing the contests impacted to the NCAA media coordination and statistics staff within 45 days of the public decision release. • Recruiting restrictions, including:  A reduction of six men’s basketball recruiting-person days during the 2017-18 academic year (self-imposed by the university).  A reduction of six men’s basketball recruiting-person days in April 2019 (self-imposed by the university). • A $5,000 fine, plus 1% of the men’s basketball program budget.

Involved Sports:
Men's Basketball

Case Level: II

Involved Penalties:

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