Kentucky reaches agreement with NCAA over football and swimming violations
(ABC36 NEWS NOW) — The University of Kentucky has reached an agreement with NCAA enforcement staff regarding impermissible benefits in its football program and rules violations related to countable athletically related activities within its swimming program, according to the NCAA website. The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions has approved the agreement, though one former coach did not participate and will have their case considered separately.
According to the NCAA, the violations involved at least 11 football student-athletes who received payment for work not performed between spring 2021 and March 2022. Eight of these student-athletes competed and received expenses while ineligible. However, it was agreed that no staff member in the athletics department knew or should have known about these payments, and thus, these violations did not contribute to a failure-to-monitor violation for the football program, according to the NCAA release.
The swimming program violations included exceeding limits on countable athletically related activities. For nearly three years, student-athletes were not provided required days off and exceeded allowable practice hours, stated the release. Kentucky agreed that these violations demonstrated a failure to monitor and a head coach responsibility violation.
The Committee on Infractions stated that separating the cases allows the school to immediately begin serving penalties while awaiting the final decision on the contested portion involving the former coach.
The agreed-upon penalties include:
- Two years of probation for the school.
- A fine.
- Vacation of records of any games in which ineligible football student-athletes competed.
According to the release, the final decision, which will include any additional findings and penalties for the former coach, is still pending as the Committee on Infractions continues its review.
For more details, you can read the full article on the NCAA website, by clicking here.
