National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA Press Release Archive

« back to archive | Back to NCAA.org

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Contact(s)

Stacey Osburn
Associate Director of Public and Media Relations
317/917-6117

INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has found that Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) committed major violations involving all 14 sports involved at the university. The case involved erroneous eligibility certification for 97 student-athletes over the course of four academic years, a lack of institutional control and a failure to monitor by the university. In addition, the former academic advisor was cited for unethical conduct for his refusal to cooperate with the NCAA during its investigation.

Penalties in this case include three years probation, scholarship reductions and a vacation of records.

This case was resolved through the summary disposition process, a cooperative effort where the involved parties submit the case to the Committee on Infractions in written form. When the NCAA enforcement staff, the university and involved individuals agree to the facts of the case and the university-proposed penalties, they may use this process instead of having a formal hearing.

During the 2003-04 through 2006-07 academic years, the student-athletes were certified despite their failure to meet academic requirements. These include not enrolling in a degree-seeking program, not meeting progress toward degree requirements, insufficient minimum enrollment standards and competing after graduating by re-enrolling in the same baccalaureate program. The violations resulted in some of the student-athletes practicing, competing, and receiving athletic scholarships or travel expenses while not eligible to do so. Approximately 75 percent of the involved student-athletes were either eligible or would have been eligible had they received proper academic advising. The university noted that no IUPUI student-athletes, coaches or athletics department administrators were knowledgeable of any of the violations found in this case.

The former academic advisor was cited with unethical conduct for refusing to furnish information relevant to the investigation. Specifically, after participating in an interview with the university, he refused to cooperate with the enforcement staff.

The committee found that the university failed to monitor the eligibility certification process. Specifically, it failed to provide NCAA rules education and training for key university staff and although the university had an eligibility committee in place it did not meet during the four years of the violations.

The penalties in this case include:

• Public reprimand and censure.
• Three years of probation from March 30, 2010, through March 29, 2013.
• Reductions in athletics scholarships awarded for a number of sports, which are further detailed in the public report.
• Vacation of all wins for the contests in which ineligible student-athletes participated. Vacated wins only affect the school in question, and not any of its competitors. This penalty involves the sports of volleyball, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, softball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball. Further details are available in the public report.

The members of the Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case include Paul Dee, lecturer in 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 Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and formerly director of athletics at Hampton University; James O’Fallon, a law professor and faculty athletic representative for University of Oregon; Britton Banowsky, commissioner of Conference USA; and Eleanor Myers, faculty athletics representative and law professor at Temple University.

-30-