UGA reports nine secondary violations
Georgia has self-reported nine secondary violations of NCAA rules this year — a list of transgressions that provides a glimpse into the minutiae of the NCAA rulebook.
The violations, revealed in response to an open-records request by the AJC, cover a range of sports — a football coach returning a call to a high school junior, basketball recruits sitting in the wrong seats in Stegeman Coliseum, a track-and-field recruit being reimbursed an extra 5 cents per mile.
All crossed the line of NCAA bylaws.
Schools routinely self-report secondary violations to the NCAA, which defines them as inadvertent missteps that don’t create a significant competitive advantage. Georgia’s nine violations since Jan. 1 are a typical number for that time period; UGA reported 10 in the final six months of last year.
“Not to make any excuses, but the NCAA manual is over 400 pages thick, with other interpretations out there too,” said Eric Baumgartner, Georgia’s assistant athletics director for compliance. “I think sometimes it does get bogged down into the minutiae, but certainly on some of [the violations] I think they are preventable.”
Baungartner said all of the violations reported this year came to light internally, usually because coaches called them to the compliance department’s attention..
“It’s a great process we have,” Baumgartner said, “in that coaches are comfortable enough to say, ‘Hey, I made a mistake; I’m letting you know.’”
Georgia’s nine violations, only one involving the football program, provide a primer on the intricacies of NCAA rules:
- A football coach, not identified in the documents, returned a missed telephone call to an unfamiliar number that turned out to be the cellphone of a recruit who was a junior in high school. That violated NCAA rules because it was before the permissible time period for calling juniors. The case has not been resolved.
- A men’s basketball coach participated in a TV interview while a recruit’s game played in the background. The case was resolved with “rules education” for the coach.
- Women’s basketball recruits on an unofficial visit were provided seats “outside the general seating area” of Stegeman Coliseum by a parent of a current player. NCAA rules allow prospects to sit in the general seating area but not in premium seats. Resolution: rules education.
- The baseball team had 36 players receive financial aid or participate in a game — one above the limit. The case remains open, but Baumgartner said a typical penalty would be to have the number of permitted players reduced by two next season (to 33).
- A track coach replied to a text message from a prospect, breaking the rule against sending texts to recruits. It would have been OK to reply if the message had been an e-mail. The case remains open.
- A visiting track recruit was reimbursed for mileage at last year’s rate of 55 cents per mile instead of this year’s rate of 50 cents. Resolution: The difference — about $7, Baumgartner said — was returned to UGA and donated to charity.
- A women’s tennis coach publicly commented on a walk-on player before she was admitted to UGA. Resolution: rules education.
- A men’s tennis coach watched a recruit “participate in recreational activities” during an official visit to campus. The case is pending.
- A member of the equestrian team participated in a competition before completing the repayment of prize money she had won. Baumgartner said student-athletes sometimes agree to repayment plans to gain NCAA eligibility and that in this instance one payment remained. The case is pending.
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202 comments Add your comment
read n black
June 11th, 2010
9:11 am
Coach Paul Johnson called me. Isn’t that a violation? Of course, he wasn’t recruiting me. He was simply wanting to know if I wanted to buy any football tickets this year.
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:12 am
CMR signs a top class EVERY year AND cheats, AND HE STILL CAN’T GET IT DONE!
nwdnanny
June 11th, 2010
9:12 am
I think the best use for the 400 page book of BS is to use it when the Charmin runs out in the locker rooms. I’ve never heard such absurdities in my life. Find something REALLY significant to report.
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:13 am
How much longer is UGA going to give CMR, it’s been a decade.
GT Fan
June 11th, 2010
9:14 am
After all the talent UGA has had over the recent years they still can’t get over the hump lol. Go Jackets!
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:15 am
Dawg fans think the NCAA rule book should be used for toilet paper. That says it all, CHEATERS.
Jake
June 11th, 2010
9:16 am
WOW! Tech fans inferiority complex to UGA still makes me laugh!
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:17 am
How long does it take to fry your brain in a tanning bed?
Tech Buzz
June 11th, 2010
9:18 am
Georgia’s been cheating in football for years, but still has mediocre results. What gives??
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:19 am
Jake, you failed history didn’t you? FOUR NCs beat one.
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:22 am
UGA is a Johnny-come-lately who can’t get it done.
boots
June 11th, 2010
9:22 am
Such is the difference between programs trying to do it the right way (UGA) and programs who could care less (USC). It is all about the leadership. Considering we are talking not about old people talking smack about college sports but the 18 to 22 year old students and young people involved in UGA athletics, it makes me proud to be a Dawg. (Nice job to the AJC of not hyping this stupid list up and making it sound like UGA was doing anything unethical.)
theTruth
June 11th, 2010
9:22 am
Guys, relax. EVERY school reports secondary violations all the time. I will be waiting for GT to show the violations they have done on the GT blog……waiting……..waiting…….waiting………
A lot of schools have in the vicinity of 50-60 per school year, some a lot higher (see OSU), they are in the hundreds. Soooo, 9 violations is very good according to the standard.
Their is no cheating in the state of Ga, if there is, we will just send CPJ to punch them in the face. Cya
Vick=Dog killing thug
June 11th, 2010
9:23 am
Silly bug fans make me laugh…
Dave
June 11th, 2010
9:23 am
Football: A coach, not identified in the documents, returned a missed telephone call to an unfamiliar number that turned out to be the cell phone of a recruit who was a junior in high school. That violated NCAA rules because it was before the permissible time period for calling juniors. The case has not been resolved.
Sounds to me like coaches need a separate phone where you just give that telephone number to recruits and put in all the phone numbers of recruits with caller ID otherwise how can you keep up calling back people who just leave you a phone number to call them back. This is just insane.
Paddy
June 11th, 2010
9:23 am
How ’bout them SC Trojans!!!!! Won’t be attractive to recruits for awhile. How ’bout that “Dream Job” now Lane? Now thats cheating it CAPS.
DawgFan
June 11th, 2010
9:25 am
Georgia Tech needs to have recuits interested in the school before they can get infractions. What is the NCAA rule between coaches and recuits in online gaming worlds? Nerds.
6 NC are better than 4
June 11th, 2010
9:26 am
Per GT’s accounting of NC’s.
•1980 (12-0-0) – Vince Dooley coached the Bulldogs to a perfect 12-0 season, including a 17-10 victory over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl to win the National Championship. Georgia finished as the only team with no losses and no ties and was declared No. 1 by almost every poll.
——————————————————————————–
Other National Championships
•1968 (8-1-2) – Litkenhous
•1966 (10-1-0) – Massey Ratings
•1946 (11-0-0) – Williamson System
•1942 (11-1-0) – Berryman; DeVold; Houlgate System; Litkenhous; Poling System; Williamson System.
•1927 (9-1-0) – Boand System; Poling System
82Dawg
June 11th, 2010
9:26 am
4 ncs are better than 1, & Tech Buzz …why don’t both of you go over to the Tech blog….oh wait there is no Tech blog no one cares about them
In Russ we Trust
June 11th, 2010
9:27 am
Geez, I think the nerds are extra pathetic today.
UGA for Life
June 11th, 2010
9:27 am
I can tell you with 100% confidence the football team has violations across the board. I had the pleasure of sitting next to two high profile players the day after a home game when the Owner of the restaurant (and booster or so his shirt said) told them their meal was on him and great game fellows. It happens everywhere I’m sure, not just UGA. Look what USC finally got caught up in. This will be UGA down the road.
N. Saban
June 11th, 2010
9:28 am
What about all the extra PO-lice protecting the Tech players on campus in that war zone. Is that legal ?
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:29 am
The weedwhacker bowl has never seen so many four and five star players. Now if UGA can just get back to the Outback Bowl.
ToccoaDawg
June 11th, 2010
9:29 am
Hey Tucker how many did Techie have?
gbal
June 11th, 2010
9:29 am
YAWN ….. Why does a local GA newspaper use their rights of open record to write such a BS piece about nothing? It can only be for the headline to try to raise controversy. If I were CMR and staff I would not give Tim Tucker (or others) a single interview thru the entire 2010 season for posting such headlines. ZERO INTERVIEWS.
Tucker, if you must write such BS, include info on other schools meaningless dirt.
It is amazing how our hometow reporters are so unsupportive of the home team. 2-3 times a week such BS. Think back to past weeks reports. Unnecessary and unsupported. Just blabing words.
N. Saban
June 11th, 2010
9:31 am
The NCAA rule book is 400 pages ? Darline, order us one of those rule books…. Darn, how’s a guy gonna win a title following that mess?
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:33 am
Ugay- 1 NC (1980) GT 4 legitimate NCs (6 total). I guess we see who the best from GA is. THWG!
Bulldog59
June 11th, 2010
9:33 am
GP Burdell, well said,even for a Techie, just kidding. Like everyone, I agree, some of many NCAA rules/violations are trivial and inane. But, as GPB says, schools MUST review them all and report them all. When you start internally determining, this one or that one doesn’t matter…trouble is soon to follow.
N. Saban
June 11th, 2010
9:36 am
Darline…….text all the players today and tell them to park BEHIND the weight room today.
And Lamont told me I needed some 22’s on my S550…….What the hell is a 22.
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:36 am
If Ugay has more than one NC why don’t they put it on their staduim, scoreboard, or somewhere? IF THEY COULD COUNT THEM, BELIEVE ME, THEY WOULD!
6 NC are better than 4
June 11th, 2010
9:38 am
4NC, that is funny because I’m having a hard time finding 4 AP NC’s that you proclaim. hmmmm
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:38 am
correction stadium.
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:39 am
If you could read it would be a lot easier.
Look Alive
June 11th, 2010
9:39 am
Tim are you listing all of the GT violations tomorrow? If not then this is just a one sided witch hunt . This is just an example of a news organization with no real news to report. This is crap and you should be ashamed to put your name on this article. Grow up Go Dawgs Go Jackets
JB
June 11th, 2010
9:40 am
I would rather be a Bulldog fan with NO NC’s than a Tech fan with 20. Glad to be a DAWG.
THWGT……….
6 NC are better than 4
June 11th, 2010
9:40 am
4nc, why don’t they? It’s called integrity. Now please add this to GT’s dictionary.
Main Entry: in·teg·ri·ty
Pronunciation: \in-ˈte-grə-tē\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English integrite, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French integrité, from Latin integritat-, integritas, from integr-, integer entire
Date: 14th century
1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility
2 : an unimpaired condition : soundness
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness
joe
June 11th, 2010
9:40 am
What? Cheating in Athens?? Who’s running the show over there? Oh, wait…Adams and Evans. No wonder…Guess UG will win the battle of secondary violations this year…at least it’s a title of some sort you classy UG fans can hang your hats on…
BD
June 11th, 2010
9:40 am
I’m a Tech fan, but I agree with UGA fans on these violations – every single one of them is garbage.
JB
June 11th, 2010
9:41 am
IT’s the off season….Tim, how does the grass look on the practice field ?
SHUGA MAN
June 11th, 2010
9:41 am
Show us a list of USC(calif.) violations with specific’s. Why doesn’t the NCAA scrutinize in -game violations, say for example ;
the personal foul called at a critical juncture in the UF-ARK. game? Or, many other games that UF played that had calls made for them that absolutely changed the outcome and brought wins to the team. Shame….Shame…..Shame……as Gomer used to say.
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:41 am
Face it, you might be able to out recruit us, but we have a lot more NCs. That is what REALLY matters.
SHUGA MAN
June 11th, 2010
9:42 am
Enter your comments here
Dixie Clear
June 11th, 2010
9:43 am
cheaters!
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:44 am
6 ncs, now look up STUPIDITY in the dictionary.
JB
June 11th, 2010
9:45 am
I think, if memory serves me well, the last MAJOR infraction in state was Georgia Tech. Something about grades….and they knew it…..somebody help me here…..
Blame Kiffin
June 11th, 2010
9:46 am
Remember last year when every secondary Kiffin committed was reported on ESPN and every other news outlet. Yet he only had like 6 or something at the end of the year. Yet Saban had triple that amount his first year and I think even Richt had 20 one year? It’s just funny how media controls how these secondaries leak out. I wish there was a website that tallied the total secondaries reported by each school and in which sport.
All in all they are not a big deal if they are indeed secondary! I just think some schools committ more than others.
N. Saban
June 11th, 2010
9:48 am
Whoa….wait just a Roll Tide cotton picking minute…..How can I purposely break a rule if I don’t know about it? Hum………….WE follow all the ones we know about over here……..
6 NC are better than 4
June 11th, 2010
9:49 am
4nc’s, why look up stupidity? Does it have your picture beside it?
Why do you want me to see what you look like? Sorry, I’m married.
baddog
June 11th, 2010
9:49 am
cheaters never win
Eisendawg
June 11th, 2010
9:49 am
ToccoaDawg, not sure about Techs secondary violations, but they do have a player, B back Daniel Drummond whom is ineligble for 1st 10 games this year, due to violation of eligibility rules. They had some pretty serious stuff in 2004. See below:
September 4, 2004
Georgia Tech reports violations
An internal audit has uncovered that 17 Georgia Tech athletes, from four different sports, were certified as academically eligible, even though they had not completed their elibility requirements. The violations occurred over the last five years.
AD Dave Braine said Georgia Tech self-reported the violations to the NCAA and that the university considers this a secondary violation. Georgia Tech Sports Blog reports that the university proposes the following sanctions:
■Forfeit four football scholarships per year for the next two years.
■Forfeit 3.9 men’s track scholarships for the next two years. (Track scholarships, unlike football and basketball scholarships, can be split among multiple athletes.)
■Forfeit 3.5 women’s track scholarships for the next two years.
■Pay a $5,000 fine.
■Issue letters of reprimand to the staff involved
Oh what a tangled webb we weave, when first we try to deceive.