INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has penalized University of Memphis for major and secondary violations involving the women's golf and men's basketball programs.

The violations include a failure to monitor by the university, unethical conduct by the former head women's golf coach, impermissible benefits, ineligible competition and impermissible recruiting contact, among others.

Penalties in this case include three years probation, vacation of records, scholarship reductions, and forfeiture of championship revenue. The penalties also include a five-year show-cause order for the former head women's golf coach, which restricts her athletically related duties at any employing NCAA institution during that time.

From 2004 through 2008, the former head women's golf coach provided multiple extra benefits valued at $3,115.70 to four women's golf student-athletes. These extra benefits included several gifts, airfare, lodging, NFL game tickets and meals, among others. The former golf coach provided the majority of these impermissible benefits to one golf student-athlete, who received $2,764.45 in extra benefits and recruiting inducements.

In September 2004 and November 2007, the former head coach also provided several golf student-athletes impermissible restaurant meals during official paid visits of other prospective student-athletes.

The committee found that the former head coach failed to deport herself in accordance with the generally recognized high standards of honesty and sportsmanship normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics. This finding was based on her knowing involvement in violations of NCAA legislation through her provision of extra benefits to student-athletes and recruitment inducements to prospective student-athletes. In addition, the former head coach provided false and misleading information to the university regarding the violations and refused to furnish requested information to the NCAA enforcement staff. The former head coach did not submit a response to the Committee on Infractions regarding the allegations and refused to participate in an interview with the enforcement staff.

This case also involved extra benefits and ineligible competition violations in the men's basketball program. During the 2007-08 academic year, the university provided approximately $1,713.85 in impermissible benefits to the brother of a men's basketball student-athlete. These extra benefits were occasional free transportation on the team's charter plane for out-of-town contests, as well as occasional free lodging at the team hotel.

During the course of the investigation, the enforcement staff requested that the athletics department review travel records to confirm that the brother paid for his flights and lodging when traveling with the men's basketball team. When the university found this did not occur on every occasion, it cited "administrative error in the institution's athletic business office" and could not provide further explanation. The finding of these violations led the committee to determine that the university violated the principle of rules compliance: failing to monitor its athletics program.

The committee also found that this same men's basketball student-athlete competed while ineligible during the entire 2007-08 season, including the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, due to an invalidated SAT score.

The university was first contacted regarding potential academic issues involving the student-athlete in October 2007 by the Chicago Public Schools Internal Audit division. During this initial investigation by Chicago Public Schools officials, the Illinois Office of the Inspector General received an allegation that irregularities may have occurred with the SAT exam the student-athlete took during May 2007 in Detroit, Mich.

The university began an independent investigation related to these allegations, which included a November 2007 interview of the student-athlete. The university was unable to substantiate the allegations of academic improprieties and cleared the student-athlete to compete during the 2007-08 season.

ETS, the SAT security testing agency, conducted its own independent investigation. As a result, it notified the student-athlete, university and NCAA Eligibility Center on May 5, 2008 that it had cancelled the test score. The Committee on Infractions concluded that the student-athlete was academically ineligible to compete during the entire season due to this cancelled test score. The university asserted that it did not have enough information to conclude before the start of the season that the test score would be cancelled. The committee, however, found this argument was not relevant as the university was able to compete with an ineligible student-athlete for an entire season.

This case also includes a secondary violation, which is further detailed in the public report.

The penalties, some of which were self-imposed by the institution and adopted by the committee, are below. Additional details are available in the public report.

• Public reprimand and censure.
• Three years of probation (August 20, 2009 to August 19, 2012).
• Five-year show-cause penalty for the former head women's golf coach (August 20, 2009 to August 14, 2014). Details of this penalty are included in the public report.
• Limit of five equivalency scholarships for women's golf from 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years. This represents a reduction of one equivalency from the maximum of six equivalencies in women's golf. (Institution imposed).
• Vacation of all wins in which the men's basketball student-athlete competed while ineligible during the 2007-08 regular season and 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Details of this vacation penalty are included in the public report.
• The university must return all money it received to date through Conference USA revenue sharing for its appearance in the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Tournament. All future distributions to the university from this appearance must be withheld by the conference and forfeited to the NCAA.
• Beginning in April 2005 through the fall of 2007, one golf student-athlete received recruiting inducements and extra benefits in excess of $2,700. Because of this, the university must vacate all match results in which the student-athlete participated. Details of this vacation penalty are included in the public report.

The members of the Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case include Paul Dee, lecturer of law and education at the University of Miami and formerly the institution's athletics director and general counsel. He is the chair of the Committee on Infractions. Other members are John S. Black, attorney; Melissa Conboy, deputy director of athletics at University of Notre Dame; Eileen Jennings, general counsel at Central Michigan University; Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and formerly director of athletics at Hampton University; and Andrea Meyers, athletic director emeritus, Indiana State University.