Here’s what being on ‘probation’ entails for TCU athletics
The NCAA punished four TCU athletics programs on Friday, handing out a one-year probation to the football, men’s and women’s basketball, and swimming and diving programs.
The football and basketball programs were disciplined for having 33 players being paid for work they didn’t do through the university’s physical plant.
The swimming and diving program had issues stemming from former coach Sam Busch, who exceeded practice limits and instructed team managers to act as coaches on numerous occasions.
The NCAA laid out five bullet points that TCU’s programs must follow during the probation period, which started Friday and runs through Dec. 19, 2020.
After stating TCU compliance staff members must attend an NCAA Regional Rules Seminar, college sports’ head body wrote:
▪ Continue to develop and implement a comprehensive educational program on NCAA legislation to instruct coaches, the faculty athletics representative, all athletics department personnel and all institution staff members with responsibility for the certification of student-athletes’ eligibility for admission, financial aid, practice or competition.
▪ Submit a preliminary report to the Office of the Committees on Infractions by January 31, 2020, setting forth a schedule for establishing (or continuing) this compliance and educational program.
▪ File with the Office of the Committees on Infractions an annual compliance report indicating the progress made with this program by November 1, 2020. Particular emphasis should be placed on monitoring student-athlete employment, coaching staff limits and CARA (countable athletically related activity). The reports must also include documentation of the institution’s compliance with the penalties adopted and prescribed by the panel.
▪ Inform prospective student-athletes in writing in the involved sport programs (football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and swimming and diving) that the institution is on probation for one year and detail the violations committed. If a prospective student athlete takes an official paid visit, the information regarding violations, penalties and terms of probation must be provided in advance of the visit. Otherwise, the information must be provided before a prospective student-athlete signs a National Letter of Intent.
▪ Publicize specific and understandable information concerning the nature of the infractions by providing, at a minimum, a statement to include the types of violations and the affected sport program and a direct, conspicuous link to the public infractions report located on the athletic department’s main or “landing” webpage. The information shall also be included in men’s basketball media guides and in an alumni publication. The institution’s statement must: (i) clearly describe the infractions; (ii) include the length of the probationary period associated with the infractions case; and (iii) provide a clear indication of what happened in the infractions case. A statement that refers only to the probationary period with nothing more is not sufficient.
Along with probation, the NCAA also issued a $47,148 fine to TCU and handed Busch a one-year show-cause order.
This story was originally published December 21, 2019 at 9:21 AM.
