By Cole Emery–
University of Louisville President Neeli Bendapudi informed the campus community in an email on May 4 that U of L has received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA regarding the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 men’s basketball program. The notice came after a two-year long investigation by the NCAA enforcement staff.
Louisville was given four allegations against them, all regarding improper recruitment. They were given one Level I allegation and three Level II violations, two of the highest possible allegations a university can receive.
In her email, Bendapudi outlined the allegations as follows:
- “A Level I allegation that an improper recruiting offer, and subsequent extra benefits to the family of an enrolled student athlete; and a recruiting inducement to a prospective student-athlete’s non-scholastic coach/trainer, were provided by certain individuals, purportedly identified and defined by the NCAA as “representatives of the university’s athletics interests,” none of whom had traditional connections to the University beyond their affiliation with Adidas or professional athlete management entities, as well as by a former assistant coach and a former associate head coach;
- A Level II allegation of recruiting violations by the same two former men’s basketball coaching staff members in providing impermissible transportation and having impermissible contact in the context of recruitment-related activities;
- A Level II allegation that the institution failed to adequately monitor the recruitment of an incoming, high-profile student-athlete;
- A Level II allegation that the former head men’s basketball coach did not satisfy his head coach responsibility when he failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance.