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
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:51 am
6 ncs, so you are saying that it would show a lack of integrity for Ugay to try and claim NCs that it did not deserve. I AGREE! So why don’t YOU practice what you preach?
6 NC are better than 4
June 11th, 2010
9:51 am
4nc’s, btw, not only can we out recruit you, but the on field results also speak for themselves….your best team in years could not beat our worst team in years….I hate to tell you WHAT IS COMING DOWN THE TRACK
SHUGA MAN
June 11th, 2010
9:53 am
Face it……UGA stills has overall wins and in fact have been voted #1 in many previous years. I was fortuate enough to see a 15-4 win stretch and at least you can’t take that away. Yes a much longer tradition of being part of the college elite. It seems biased “sports journalism” has corrupted the integrity of college football?
chazzo
June 11th, 2010
9:53 am
News would be not a school that didn’t self-report.
Da truth
June 11th, 2010
9:53 am
The baseball team already has an advantage over most of the SEC (with HOPE schollies) ….why push their luck?
Spike
June 11th, 2010
9:54 am
Yawn. This about the most chicken s@#t stuff I think I have ever seen. Good grief.
N. Saban
June 11th, 2010
9:55 am
Boy Tech, what the hell is going on…..Geez…….I knew that Irish coach a while back had suspect credentials, but this reeks……I really don’t know if I could expose my Boys to this type of cheating………….SEC football is a game of honor….what you boys do in the ACC needs to stay in the ACC….geez…………
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:56 am
6 ncs, you forgot to count 2008, Ugay was voted #1 that year in pre-season. Maybe you could put that one up on your great big stadium.
GaGator
June 11th, 2010
9:57 am
Who turned in Hershel Walker’s Trans-Am he drove all over UGA?
JB
June 11th, 2010
9:57 am
Enter your comments here
What do you call a team without a QB?
June 11th, 2010
9:57 am
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/06/11/1492178/butler-star-qb-lemay-could-face.html
Your new guy is just following the lead…
JB
June 11th, 2010
9:58 am
Dawgs over Jackets 8 of 9 past years………We’re owned by Gators……BUT at least WE own somebody !!!!!!!!!
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
9:59 am
Ugay, signing day HEROES, National Championship ZEROES!
Matilda
June 11th, 2010
9:59 am
“We must follow the rules”
Nonsense!
Who says we can’t questions the rules and the mickey mouse thinking that lies behind a 400 page rule book for recrutiing. This is what you get with regulating behavior to the nth degree. It’s more about making everyone guilty and givving power to the rulemakers than actually accomplishing something positive.
The NCAA is out of control.
Jim Donnan
June 11th, 2010
9:59 am
Why did you fire me again??? Hell, I could have committed these violations and won.
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
10:00 am
JB, you also own fewer NCs than GT and that’s a fact.
npgator
June 11th, 2010
10:00 am
They should be given the death penalty!
JB
June 11th, 2010
10:00 am
Ga Gator……let’s don’t go there……Gainesville is without sin I’m sure……most of your players can’t spell cat spotting them the c and the t……and that’s the truth…….
Crimedog
June 11th, 2010
10:01 am
The NCAA is the US equivalent of BP. Four years of research before slapping USC on the wrist. The NCAA would have been a perfect fit for Mike A. That being said, I suspect that the “innocent” football coach was Rodney Garner.
Dale
June 11th, 2010
10:02 am
Damn, our equestrian team is a bunch of thugs.
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
10:02 am
Ugay can’t follow the NCAA rulebook any better than they can follow the law.
Greensboro, Georgia
June 11th, 2010
10:02 am
*
Georgia Tech reports …28… touchdowns by Joshua Nesbitt last year.
====
K-Dogg
June 11th, 2010
10:03 am
I think the NCAA needs to make an example of the UGA Equestrian team! I can’t believe some of the shady dealings going on over there! What do you guys think? Send horses to the glue factory?
JB
June 11th, 2010
10:03 am
4 NC’s……… Enjoy them, you’ll never win another…………….Nice showing in the Orange Bowl. You represented the State and the ACC nicely…….
Dale
June 11th, 2010
10:03 am
4 ncs, the title count is either 4-2 or 3-1, seeing as the same service that awarded your 1990 awarded Georgia’s 1942.
GaGator
June 11th, 2010
10:03 am
If the Gators are so dumb, why do you say this?
===========================================================
JB
June 11th, 2010
9:58 am
Dawgs over Jackets 8 of 9 past years………We’re owned by Gators……BUT at least WE own somebody !!!!!!!!!
gbal
June 11th, 2010
10:03 am
CMR –
UGA should adopt a similar “Violations Policy” with reporters.
If a reporter prints a controversial headline such as this that is absolutly meaningless, or without getting a statement from the coaching staff prior to printing the article, that reporter is banned from appearing in the UGA press confrences and is not granted interviews with any school official for the upcomming season. This might help produce some reporters for our local papers who are supportive of our local institutions VS those who write about nothing to get hits and sell adds. Tucker – Bannded for 2010
huh ?
June 11th, 2010
10:05 am
to tar and feather part : what is a Chevy el Darado ?
GaGator
June 11th, 2010
10:06 am
I’m not saying the Gators are without sin ( see Charlie Pell years), but this article is about UGA violations, just trying to get a reaction and I did.
nerds! nerds! nerds!
June 11th, 2010
10:06 am
Enter your comments here
UT96
June 11th, 2010
10:08 am
SEC Fan, the reason the NCAA hasn’t issued a secondary violation to UT is because the NCAA didn’t find anything. It turns out those girls were dating the recruits in question and were acting on their own accord. I’m not sticking up for bozo Kiffin but he didn’t do anything wrong on this one.
JB
June 11th, 2010
10:10 am
Gagator….you admission policy needs looking into…. I know for a fact we’ve backed off some guys for academic reasons and they end up enrolled at UF. Georgia folks wonder sometimes we lose a guy to ya’ll……You’re very accommodating to these scholars.
Ringleader
June 11th, 2010
10:12 am
GaGator……….What about Galen Hall……..Pell was bad, but Hall was worse…….
4 ncs are better than 1
June 11th, 2010
10:13 am
JB, thanks for representing the state so well….in the weedwhacker bowl. I think we’ll stick to the BCS BOWL.
Iceman
June 11th, 2010
10:14 am
The Bug fans are out in full force today.
N. Saban
June 11th, 2010
10:14 am
The Rhodes Scholar folks have opened a satellite office in our Athletic building over here….We’re doing things right…………
Matt the Brave
June 11th, 2010
10:15 am
GT Fan, you know Tech has the same problems. Frankly, it’s just that Tech doesn’t report their NCAA violations to the media. This happens at every school, and we should all be glad that we have compliance officers at both schools so that we can enjoy watching our beloved teams without having to worry about 2 year bowl bans.
N. Saban
June 11th, 2010
10:15 am
As underdogs, we won……..just like at Grant Field a few weeks earlier. LOL HBTD
Big Man
June 11th, 2010
10:16 am
Slow day huh?
GT BBall Fan
June 11th, 2010
10:16 am
SEC = South Eastern Cheaters!
Joe Spell
June 11th, 2010
10:18 am
I guess UGA got nervous seeing what happened to Southern Cal! Decided to try and throw NCAA off track by self reporting minor stuff to keep them from finding the big stuff later.
georgiaman24
June 11th, 2010
10:24 am
No it’s not that Tech Doesn’t report their violations to the media…it’s the AJC who doesn’t ask. To put this in your sports section the day after USC is hit with MAJOR sanctions is bad and I mean BAD Journalism. Grow up AJC and report real sports news.
JB
June 11th, 2010
10:28 am
The AJC is the Obama White house and the Univ. of Georgia is Fox News.
JB
June 11th, 2010
10:28 am
And Tech is CNN…….nobody watching LOL
JB
June 11th, 2010
10:30 am
Yea Joe, real serious stuff here………..Read earlier post about Georgia Tech recent troubles to see why someone should be ” really scared”.
GaGator
June 11th, 2010
10:32 am
JB
I like your last two, but which Gators did UGA back off because of grades?
Tech Sucks
June 11th, 2010
10:33 am
For the GT fan who said, “After all the talent UGA has had over the recent years they still can’t get over the hump.” Russ and UGA have HUMPED you 8 out of 9.
6-7 Texas A&M
June 11th, 2010
10:33 am
Did any unreported violations occur at the Advocare 100 Bowl in Shreveport ?
JB
June 11th, 2010
10:34 am
GT BB fan………. Tech has all the blood on their hands recently………..How’s the team looking for next year……..I wonder if our little ole bottom feeder SEC team will beat you guys again ?
GATORMAN
June 11th, 2010
10:35 am
I say that NCAA needs to look deeper, I bet you that there are more violations in that DUMP of UGA . It is only a matter of time before they are hit with serious penalties that will bring NCAA down on them .This is when more of the High school coaches and recruits start to turn them in. Expect UGA to take more short cuts, l know their football program is desperate to win and I think they see their window of opportunity is closing very quickly now that there is talk about the SEC maybe bringing in some new teams to the SEC.Depending on which teams come to the SEC UGA could be pushed back down to the middle of the pack, keep your eyes on this the writing is on the wall.