UPDATE: Tech vacates 2009 ACC title, gets 4 years’ probation
Let the record reflect that Buzz the Bee declined to comment. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
UPDATE: Georgia Tech has to vacate its 2009 ACC championship and has been placed on probation through 2015 by the NCAA. Tech has also been fined $100,000.
First, let me emphasize that Georgia Tech folks are being very quiet about this. Nobody in any official capacity wants to speak ahead of the NCAA’s teleconference at 3 p.m. (Tech president Bud Peterson and AD Dan Radakovich will offer the Institute’s response at a 4:30 briefing.) That said …
I have attempted to sniff around. And here’s what I’ve been led to believe:
• Nobody is getting fired.
• No scholarships will be lost.
• There will be no postseason ban.
Let me also emphasize this: Tech folks are expecting a significant hit. And now you’re asking: If the significant hit doesn’t take the form of firings/scholarships/bans, what could it be?
The only things that spring to mind — and let me stress this is me speculating — are a possible forfeiture of some weight, and/or the application of the dreaded “lack of institutional control” label on the Tech athletic department. Then again, I could be way wrong. (Wouldn’t be the first time.)
Esteemed colleague Doug Roberson has written on the AJC’s Tech blog that the violations themselves aren’t believed to be major but Tech’s cooperation might have been, at least in the NCAA’s eyes, less than rigorous. (Mr. Roberson has also reported that both Demaryius Thomas and Morgan Burnett, members of the 2009 ACC championship team, have denied receiving improper benefits.)
And that’s all I know at the moment. I wish I knew more. But we’ll all get the picture very soon. Stay tuned, won’t you?
By Mark Bradley
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Jacket Man
July 14th, 2011
3:06 pm
INDIANAPOLIS— The Georgia Institute of Technology committed violations in its football and men’s basketball programs, according to findings by the Division I Committee on Infractions. The university was cited for a lack of cooperation during the investigation, a failure to meet the conditions and obligations of membership, and preferential treatment violations. There were additional violations in the men’s basketball program related to rules stemming from a nonscholastic basketball tournament conducted on the university’s campus, which the public report further details.
Penalties include a $100,000 fine, recruiting restrictions, vacation of records and four years probation.
Citing the troubling nature of the case, the committee stated in its report, “This case provides a cautionary tale of conduct that member institutions should avoid while under investigation for violations of NCAA rules.”
According to the committee, the university’s failure to cooperate and meet the obligations of membership compounded the seriousness of the case by adding onto what was originally an isolated instance of impermissible benefits and preferential treatment.
Georgia Tech failed to cooperate and protect the integrity of the investigation when its staff members provided information to a football student-athlete regarding the scope of his upcoming interview, according to the committee findings. The university provided this information despite specific instructions by the enforcement staff, which the committee concluded impeded the investigation and hindered efforts to get to the truth in the case.
The committee noted that due to the NCAA’s lack of subpoena power, cooperation from schools and individuals is critical to ensuring complete information can be gathered and analyzed.
The university also failed to meet conditions and obligations of membership when it did not withhold another football student-athlete from competition after being made aware of information that raised serious questions about his eligibility. Specifically, the student-athlete received several items of clothing, valued at approximately $312, from a friend of a sports agency employee. Rather than declaring the student-athlete ineligible, the university allowed him to compete in the three final contests of the 2009-10 football season, including the conference championship game and bowl competition.
“It appeared to the committee that the institution attempted to manipulate the information surrounding potential violations involving (the student-athlete) so there would be enough doubt about its validity to justify the decision not to declare him ineligible,” the independent body stated in its report.
The committee also noted the university took these actions despite information reported by the student-athlete, another football student-athlete and an assistant football coach regarding the potential agent involvement in preferential treatment benefits. The university subsequently barred the agency employee, a former student-athlete, from the university’s training facilities and denied him access to complimentary tickets to athletic contests. However, it did not follow up on the information regarding the involvement of the agency employee with the football student-athlete.
When determining the appropriate penalties, the committee took into account the university’s repeat violator status. The penalties, some of which were self-imposed by the university and adopted by the committee, include:
•Public reprimand and censure.
•Four years of probation from July 14, 2011 through July 13, 2015. The public report further details the conditions of this probation.
•A $100,000 financial penalty.
•A reduction of two men’s basketball recruiting days during the 2011 summer evaluation period (self-imposed by the university).
•A limit of 10 official visits for men’s basketball for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.
•A vacation of all contests won by the football team during the 2009 season after November 24, which is when the university was alerted to the potential eligibility issues.
The members of the Division I Committee on Infractions who reviewed this case include Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and chair of the Committee on Infractions. Other members are Roscoe C. Howard, Jr., attorney; Thomas Yeager, commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association; Greg Sankey, associate commissioner of compliance for the Southeastern Conference; Eleanor Myers, faculty athletics representative and law professor at Temple University; Melissa Conboy, deputy director of athletics at the University of Notre Dame; James O’Fallon, law professor and faculty athletics representative for the University of Oregon; and Britton Banowsky, commissioner of Conference USA.
Tech Fan Since 1950
July 14th, 2011
3:07 pm
Look, if we messed up in some way then we will need to take our punishment. Unless they close down the place, my wife and I will be at Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field on September 1 where the atmosphere, with the Atlanta skyline, is the greatest in college football. The two of us can make more noise than all of you combined.
Tech is a great place, greater than most Georgians are even aware. BUT we are not mistake free. Also, I am not really pleased the way all of this is being announced today. First we hear there is a 10AM announcement and then a 3PM announcement and then a 4:30 PM reaction. Sounds on the surface that the NCAA and the Tech folks are not on the same “communications” page, and that may very well be what most of this is all about.
ToccoaDawg
July 14th, 2011
3:08 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA techies
Paul N Destin
July 14th, 2011
3:08 pm
Auburn will make SMU look like Happy Days cast. The player pool entering college football will ruin the sport within 5 more years. There is no coach that can control the character(lack of) of these folks. You see it 1st in sports just where the direction of the country is headed. At 60 I am glad I was able to be apart of the great years and I feel for you younguns in that what is ahead for college football. The NCAA will make a huge example of auburn and they must in order to get things back on track for a short period but in the end we drift to where so many schools will be like the bunch from the plains. The old banker, the yellafella and the old drunk coach are as low as you can get.
D-Rad
July 14th, 2011
3:09 pm
Let’s face it folks, we got off easy with the primary penalty being Public reprimand and censure. $100K ain’t nothing and Burnett and Bay-Bey are long gone.
Realist
July 14th, 2011
3:10 pm
How long until the BCS Schools tell the NCAA to pound sand and set up their own association? $312 results in a title being VACATED? I wouldn’t piss on the NCAA if it was on fire.
BTW, I don’t even have a dawg in this fight. I am a Seminole fan.
gtkenz
July 14th, 2011
3:10 pm
NCAA is a joke. When are these brainless idiots with no athletic ability going to back off? Do they really think any of this is isolated to a select few? That is insane. Every single school in every single sport, Juco, NAIA, D-2, D-3, etc. all break these ridiculous NCAA rules. Not one school is exempt, NOT ONE. And you can bet the house, the bigger schools with more success break the most rules. There is a certain percentage drawn to the campus, a certain amount that bond with the Coach(s), and a vast number that get paid in some form or fashion. It is inevitable and rich or poor makes no difference. It’s such a double standard. Gifts for bowls and unlimited sports attire from the school, but no money for a car or a date. Since when did the United States pass a law that forbids a property owner of any type of property from selling it or profiting in some way for transferring the property to another person? The NCAA is Un-American. They truly are the National Communist Against Athletes. THW-NCAA.
Golden Tornado
July 14th, 2011
3:11 pm
If GT gets sanctioned, I do not understand why no one will get fired.
We are supposed to be better than this.
In my mind, anyone remotely involved should be shown the door and then get kicked in the butt on their way out.
nerds are funny
July 14th, 2011
3:12 pm
me
July 14th, 2011
1:45 pm
You know your football program is a joke when you’ve lost 9 out of 10 to Mark Richt.
You know your footbal program is a joke when fans like this slam the team that has owned you since Jesus was a carpenter. Remember me, baseball season will start back up in March of 2012 and you will have hope again.
Is that Probation?
July 14th, 2011
3:13 pm
Or double secret probation? Either way it’s just a slap on the wrist.
As Reggie Ball said above, Georgia’s Georgia dog. Nothing but a speedbump.
workinDawg
July 14th, 2011
3:13 pm
The one thing Tech does well is play ineligible players. Well done guys!!
Paul
July 14th, 2011
3:14 pm
All I know is, if the NCAA did this to GTech for $312 in impermissible gifts, OH state is getting the death penalty.
jsmooth
July 14th, 2011
3:16 pm
Hey Sess Pool,
I would watch you words when you speak about a UGA degree as “Worthless.” Did you actually go to Tech as my father and brother did? If so, you missed out on the spelling and vocabulary class, Cess and not Sess. My son and daughter both go to UGA. My son is a Senior and will graduate in December. and already has many companies fighting over his services once January arises. He is on an internship this summer and believe me, that UGA diploma is worth the money I have paid. Get a life and stick to the topic of atheletics. Both schools are fine institutions of higher learning and have distinguished alumni’s all over the country and world.
DawginLex
July 14th, 2011
3:18 pm
Did you look at the names on the committee?
One from the SEC and 1 from Oregon???
Well, I guess crooks do know how to catch crooks the best
Coach Hewitt...
July 14th, 2011
3:18 pm
no Paul….
They did it because gt refused to sit a player after the NCAA warned them to…
headley lamar
July 14th, 2011
3:18 pm
$312 results in a title being VACATED?
It wasnt the 312$
It was the hiding it after they knew about it. Thats what the NCAA doesnt like.
gatorhater27
July 14th, 2011
3:19 pm
What’s with the extraneous apostrophe in the headline, Mark?
Barrack Hussein
July 14th, 2011
3:20 pm
We will hereby raise Georgia Tech’s debt ceiling to account for the $100,000 NCAA penalty and current $700,000 athletic deficit.
JB
July 14th, 2011
3:20 pm
Did Johnson know this and ALLOW the guys to play? I’m guessing not. I”m as hard as anyone cracking on Paul( Who all kidding aside, I think is a very good coach) But I really don’t think he would of allowed this.
GOLDNWHITEFORLIFE
July 14th, 2011
3:21 pm
The one thing Georgia players do well is go to Jail. Well done guys
Old Blind Dawg
July 14th, 2011
3:22 pm
Wow!
Based on this ruling Auburn, Oregon and OSU will get fined $100,000,000,000 – vacate every win since right after the civil war – be forced to play nekid and allowed to sign only Chinese players less than 5′ 6″ if everything we hear is true.
That NCAA group has grown some teeth.
NCAA is a joke
July 14th, 2011
3:23 pm
Well said Tech Fan Since 1950, can’t wait for September on the flats. Don’t see how anyone on here was saying the “death penalty” was possible. loss of the ACC Championship sux, but considering we were technically in violation, it’s appropriate. All of this over a couple hundred dollars worth of clothes. Don’t see how the “lack of cooperation” angle factors in, cooperating or not, we would have given up the ACCCG win either way.
George P. Burdell
July 14th, 2011
3:23 pm
What I would really like to know is why this is the first most of us have heard of this. Surely DRad knew we were being investigated and yet nothing was said. If that is the case, I’d love to hear an answer for why they didn’t give Tech fans a heads up about this.
High School Offense
July 14th, 2011
3:24 pm
CPJ is a genius, he doesn’t even carry notes on the sideline.
Run left, run right, run middle…..when all else fails, run right again..or middle, or left
The rest of us
July 14th, 2011
3:27 pm
Nice job, Scoop! Where were you in 2009?
Carlton
July 14th, 2011
3:28 pm
Who cares? Like Tech was ever relevant. This isn’t news, it’s a hilarious joke that adds salt to the wound of Georgia that is GA Tech in athletics. Demaryius Thomas? Apparently he can hold onto money better than he can catch a football..Go Dawgs!!
Top Dawg
July 14th, 2011
3:29 pm
Where did “Sess” Pool learn to spell? (See 1:56 p.m.)
Old Blind Dawg
July 14th, 2011
3:29 pm
Burdell I suspect the administration didn’t want to say a word because of the implications on recruiting – just a WAG.
Coach Hewitt...
July 14th, 2011
3:29 pm
BWAHHHHHHHHHHH……
http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2009/12/01/a-devalued-acc-title-game-not-to-johnson-and-tech/?cxntfid=blogs_mark_bradley_blog
http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2009/10/18/why-stop-now-heres-techs-checklist-for-the-bcs-title/
AtlantaWolf
July 14th, 2011
3:30 pm
4 years probation- no scholarships lost- no post season ban- what a joke!
If you really want to get someone’s attention to stop breaking the rules, take away scholarships, ban post season games , and see how that hurts a program. Once you do that, it will make a big impact on a program and others will pay attention as well since it can really impact the program. that is the only way that the ncaa will stop all of the problems at so many schools
ToccoaDawg
July 14th, 2011
3:30 pm
where was the AJC during the investigation? not even a peep out of the AJC. yet if a uga player spits on the sidewalk its a major crime. WHERE WERE YOU AJC?
JB
July 14th, 2011
3:31 pm
I’m not sure any “serious” Tech boosters are happy today. I’ve had some fun on here today, but this is not funny. I’m also not naive enough to know that some Tech people hate Georgia so bad they wish we would get the death penalty. I can’t help them or their feelings. Tech is in Georgia. I’m in Business with a Tech Grad. I’m sorry about today. I am concerned, for ya’ll, not me, If Johnson Snubbed his nose at them and was hell bent on playing a player in question. If that’s the case, You have got the wrong man leading your program.
Coach Hewitt...
July 14th, 2011
3:31 pm
http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2009/11/30/im-thinking-pj-sees-a-real-title-as-bigger-than-beating-uga/
JoeSchaadJustTweeted
July 14th, 2011
3:32 pm
It was Demaryius Thomas that was Player #1, not Morgan Burnett. You folks owe Morgan an apology.
Coach Hewitt...
July 14th, 2011
3:32 pm
http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2009/12/01/a-devalued-acc-title-game-not-to-johnson-and-tech/?cxntfid=blogs_mark_bradley_blog
http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2009/10/18/why-stop-now-heres-techs-checklist-for-the-bcs-title/
DC
July 14th, 2011
3:36 pm
you techies better take a picture b/c this is the last time JB will care about you guys haha
Matt from MN
July 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
WOW!! That’s gonna leave a mark!! Better be squeaky, squeaky clean from here on out.
Heath
July 14th, 2011
3:52 pm
“Excuse my schadenfreude, but Tech is so self righteous they make Barry Bonds look like Dale Murphy, babe.”
Dennis Miller
Dawg Trot
July 14th, 2011
4:12 pm
will paul johnson have to give back his fat bonus for the 2009 title that was stripped?
Columbus
July 14th, 2011
6:05 pm
Yep we bash Tech because they will NOT stay off UGA blogs. I guess it is the ONLY way to beat us up since it DEFINATELY will be at least 7 years before Tech has ANY chance on the field!
Columbus
July 14th, 2011
6:09 pm
Thank you Mark Richt for running a CLEAN program and not cheating like AU, UA, UT and GT……Win we win it all we will have not cloud over us. It will be LEGIT. Just like our last 2 conference championships under…Mark Richt. Before Richt we won an SEC championship in……1982! All you Richt haters are obviously……..MORONS. His 10 year record stands for itself and on its own and I challenge you to find better coaching records in the 10st 10 years of ANY head coach in the last 50 years…..Maybe 3? Maybe….
NCAA sanctions Georgia Tech men's hoops program
July 14th, 2011
6:11 pm
[...] Here's what I'm hearing about Georgia Tech and the NCAA | Mark BradleyMark Bradley of the AJC shares with readers what he's hearing ahead of the NCAA's announcement regarding possible Georgia Tech violations. <> [...]
just saying
July 15th, 2011
11:19 am
I’d say this is more embarassing for AJC sportswriters than GT. This was something done back in Nov 2009 and this is the first you people have heard about it? Some reporting that is.
From age 11, Demaryius Thomas was raised by cousins from home to home. Could any of you geniuses at this paper look into just what cousin gave him clothing? I certainly do not think the NCAA has their facts straight. What if a cousin lived in the same residence with Bay Bay?
What of it?
Family members are not allowed to give some kid clothes? Really?
Can you writers not look into this further or are you just going to sit back and do nothing like you always do?
Anna
July 15th, 2011
11:41 am
Buzz is a Yellow Jacket. Moron.
TechGuy
July 15th, 2011
1:15 pm
You UGA fans better quit shooting off your mouths about Tech! You should be tremblin’ in your dawghouses! OMG, wait until the NCAA starts sniffing around down there!
Buddy El (Dawg For Life)
July 20th, 2011
12:23 pm
Patience Aaron: The GT stuff happened in 2009. In 2009 nobody knew who Cam Newton was. His day will come.
Buddy El (Dawg For Life)
July 20th, 2011
12:36 pm
George P. Burdell: The NCAA instructed DRad not to tell anyone, not even CPJ because they were afraid CPJ might rehearse the players involved on how to respond to the NCAA questioning. Rad told CPJ anyway and apparently somebody handled the rehearsing. Who???? I don’t know.
Buddy El (Dawg For Life)
July 20th, 2011
12:45 pm
SESS POOLEin Athens: Friend you better stick with your “Alias” because if you need a doctor, dentist, surgeon, judge, attorney, etc.(UGA grads) Your chances of surviving will be slim to none. My first guess is you need a phycologist.