UGA reports violation in Crowell recruitment, bars Richt from calling recruits next month
Georgia broke an NCAA rule in the recruitment of prized tailback Isaiah Crowell and will respond by barring coach Mark Richt from phoning recruits next month, according to a letter from UGA athletic director Greg McGarity to the NCAA.
An attempt by Richt in January to demonstrate the Bulldogs’ need for Crowell by having him stand in as the missing tailback in an offensive formation with current players resulted in a secondary violation of the rule against “game day simulation” with recruits, McGarity wrote.
Crowell signed with Georgia last month, and the school’s self-reported violation had the temporary effect of making him ineligible. But the NCAA staff, acting on a request in McGarity’s March 4 letter, already has reinstated Crowell’s eligibility, according to an e-mail from the NCAA to UGA on Friday.
McGarity told the NCAA that Richt did not believe the January scenario constituted a “game day simulation.” However, McGarity wrote that “as a result of the violation,” Richt will receive a letter of admonishment and will be prohibited from telephoning recruits and their parents during the NCAA’s “spring evaluation period” in April.
The NCAA could accept those penalties or could impose additional ones. In most cases, if the NCAA agrees the violation is secondary, meaning inadvertent and resulting in no significant advantage, self-imposed penalties are accepted.
McGarity said Monday that he “will have no comment other than what’s in the letter,” a copy of which was obtained under the state’s Open Records Act. Richt was not available for comment, spokesman Claude Felton said. Crowell did not return messages.
McGarity described the incident in detail in his 1 ½-page letter:
“[Crowell] was on campus for his official visit January 21-23, 2011. . . . [Richt] and the football staff arranged for the offensive linemen, wide receivers, fullback and quarterback to gather . . . in the indoor practice facility that [Richt's] office overlooks. The [players] . . . were dressed in their game-day uniform tops.
“Coach Richt, [Crowell] and [Crowell's] family left his office to join the group. By the time [Crowell] made his way to the field, the team was in an offensive alignment without a running back. [Crowell] was subsequently handed a jersey and stood in the vacant running back position . . . After [Crowell] stood in the position, the student-athletes broke from the alignment and talked to him. The activity lasted less than five minutes.”
Richt’s idea “was to create a feeling for [Crowell] that he was needed,” McGarity wrote, adding that Richt didn’t think having a recruit stand in a formation without running a play constituted a violation. However, Richt “did not check with the compliance office beforehand.”
The SEC subsequently informed Georgia that the NCAA rule against game-day simulation is “all-encompassing and includes the activity [Crowell] participated in,” McGarity wrote. Also, it is against the rule for a recruit to try on or wear a game-day jersey outside of the locker room.
Georgia “does not believe a recruiting advantage was gained as [Crowell's] mother has stated that her son knew he was going to attend UGA since he was a young child,” according to McGarity’s letter.
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755 comments Add your comment
Dawgbreath
March 15th, 2011
7:53 am
When you are on the hot seat you start to inch your way up the cheating ladder.
Snake Doc
March 15th, 2011
8:00 am
Feel like I’m watching the CEO excuse show. You folks won’t admit the CEO is anything other then perfect while blaming 18 and 19 yr old kids for all the Dawgs woes. Amazing!
No one ever taught any of y’all that excuses are for losers? Oh, and I suppose also for the CEO.
Freehawk
March 15th, 2011
8:03 am
Tim, you overlooked the secondary violations for the knucklehead UGA alums being present at Rome’s signing conference (”motor never stops” is the biggest of all knuckleheads).
Sounds like Crowell’s mother is “content.” McGarity’s suspension of disbelief is remarkable. UGA does need an RB who can run a lick.
TopDog
March 15th, 2011
8:11 am
testing dumb ajc server again
TopDog
March 15th, 2011
8:12 am
Finally worked! Not my original thoughts however.
GT forever
March 15th, 2011
8:13 am
GT fan here. Richt may be a goober but I also think this is baloney
STEINER
March 15th, 2011
8:14 am
SEC OFFICE:
Boys glad yall finally woke up down there in time to really catch this big fish..GUESS THIS IS TO LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT YOU GUYS ARE ALIVE AND WELL AT THE SEC OFFICE…Let me be the first to tell you that a lot has been said about Cam Newton, his dad selling him to the highest bidder, etc….AND YOU GUYS ARE QUICK TO POINT OUT THAT A GUY STANDING IN A FORMATION IS BREAKING A RULE….WAKE UP, ITS NOT IN ATHENS THAT YOU ARE NEEDED, ITS OVER AT AUBURN…..KNOW THAT THE NAP WAS GOOD, BUT WAKE UP AND SEE IF YOU CAN FIND ANYTHING OUT ABOUT OLE CECIL….THINK HE IS THE ONE STANDING IN THE RIGHT FORMATION…..
Fred
March 15th, 2011
8:15 am
WHAT ISN’T A VIOLATION THESE DAYS? THE NCAA IS A DICTATORSHIP!!!! Standing in a formation with a football jersey on without running a play is considered to be creating a game day experience? WHAT A JOKE!!!!
Paul N Destin
March 15th, 2011
8:18 am
Crowell’s parents didn’t want him to go to UGA. They understand what most folks see in Richt other than the dog fans.
STEINER
March 15th, 2011
8:18 am
VOL IN BETHLEHEM:
Yea, with all the rules you have broken in basketball and football lately, this deal with Coach Richt certainly raises to the level of a firing squad offense….WHAT A JOKE THE SEC OFFICE AND THE NCAA HAVE BECOME…..COULDN’T TRACK A SHOE HEEL……
Cobb Vol
March 15th, 2011
8:23 am
what recruiting rules will Richt, his staff and former players be breaking next? Just win baby—get those secondary violations “covered up.”
DC
March 15th, 2011
8:28 am
What does this have to do with AU???? You UGA fans are so defensive lol…UGA got fined its over move on…
But I must say…Chizik did act pretty quickly with kicking those idiots off the team…another coach might use his 3 strike policy…not naming anyone….
keith +
March 15th, 2011
8:34 am
mark richt is on the way to big things i agree with jeff it is really not a big deal make a list of wat is a violation
VOL IN BETHLEHEM
March 15th, 2011
8:34 am
STEINER
ITS NOT THAT THE VOLS ARE NOT WITHOUT FAULT. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE DOGS YOU ALL WILL BLAME ANYONE BUT YOURSELVES. JUST SAYING! ITS A RUFF JOB COACHING IN THE SEC. IT SEEMS SCHOOLS WILL DO JUST ABOUT ANY THING TO WIN OR IS IT A COACH WILL DO ANYTHING TO KEEP HIS JOB TO STAY IN A CONFERENCE THAT OWNS EVERY ONE
Cam Newton
March 15th, 2011
8:35 am
CHEATERS!!!! CHEATERS!!!! Freaking Losers UGA!!!! Well, well, well, now it seems that the shoe is on the other foot. The only difference is the NCAA actually FOUND SOMETHING at UGA whereas at Auburn, nothing was found.
Now watcha gonna say UGA fans?!?!? CHEATERS!! Hope you lose all your games this year because that’s what you deserve for cheating. You can’t win jack playing fair so now you have to cheat. Losers!!!!
Hmph! Now you know what we felt like last year. Obviously I’m being cynical, but let’s see how you spin this one and not look hypocritical.
woebegong
March 15th, 2011
8:41 am
If anybody would like to see a copy of the NCAA rules book for this year, you can get it by going to the NCAA website under athletics. It is 273 pages thick. The rules cover everything from, how you dress, to how you must always represent the NCAA in a good light. It is written at the reading level of about a 6th grader. Does that tell you anything. If UGA only is guilty of a few nebulous minor infractions like this one mentioned, I will be perfectly happy with that. At least they are self reporting them, rather than having somebody tell on us. I can’t see how any school comes through unscathed with that much crap to worry about. I am willing to bet that every school in the NCAA has commited a minor infraction even in this year. The NCAA is watching the SEC like a hawk, because of some past indiscretions commited by a few schools, and are ready to pounce as soon as they see anything, that could possibly violate some part of their Bible (rulebook).
GOOOOOOO DAWGSSSSSSSSS
Smith
March 15th, 2011
8:48 am
It’s better for them to report this,than not too. Why would you want the ncaa knocking on your door, like they did with auburn mid season.
DaMan
March 15th, 2011
9:04 am
Typical UGA…..bunch of cheaters….and what is with the obsession with Auburn??? Good gosh, worry about your own program……you just had a 6-7 season and are now accused of cheating and all the Dawg fans are still obsessed with Auburn…..amazing to watch jealousy in action!!!
Gatorzone
March 15th, 2011
9:13 am
WHOOP-TE-DOO!!!!
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Big deal, no penalties will be required… Slow day at AJC.
Rooster
March 15th, 2011
9:18 am
DID RICHT COMPLETE HIS “PUNISHMENT RUN” THIS MORNINING?
growing older, but not up
March 15th, 2011
9:18 am
Some of these antics are starting to remind me of Lane G.
rule book
March 15th, 2011
9:21 am
has mcgarity learned how to work his email yet? if so, maybe he can email a copy of the ncaa recruiting rules to richt and his staff today to get all this cheating stopped.
Rooster
March 15th, 2011
9:22 am
Richt’s IQ must be on the same level as Buck Belue. LMAO
woebegong
March 15th, 2011
9:30 am
DaMan,
Read the article thoroughly if you can. The violation was for a very nebulous rule and CMR did not feel he was violating the rule. Better even, go onto the NCAA site and download the PDF version of the football regulations for the NCAA. It is a 273 page book, written on about, a 6 grade level of reading. I would also bet that just about any school, has violated one small rule according to the NCAA every year.
UGA fans would probably not be so fixated about your troubles if you and some of your fellow fans did not come on to a blog that concerns UGA, and spout a bunch of negative crap. Read your fellow fans blog comments, “CAM NEWTON”, and it should be verey obvious why UGA fans spout negative comments about Auburn. The constant negative comments directed towards each other are pretty childish, so why don’t you just decide to be above them then, and maybe that will raise the level of comments on this blog a bit.
We are all SEC fans I assume and we must at least try to remember, that what is good for one team in the SEC, is good for all of the SEC. We do not need to give any ammunition to people outside the conference, to make disparging remarks about people from the south, or our conference. Petty, childish remarks don’t help that situation. I get mad at myself at times for even getting into any banter when it comes to people insulting UGA, but then I remember that I am an adult, and need to act like one. Stooping down to the level of even answering a childish, negative, comment, doesn’t make me feel any better anyway.
Oh Well,
GOOOOO DAWGSSSSSSSS
THE MAJOR
March 15th, 2011
9:46 am
The eny continues.
Notice now LSU is under a microscope.
More violations are coming out for UGA, secondary in nature but more are coming.
I told you aabout Drew and Crowell. more are coming.
Andy in Blairsville
March 15th, 2011
9:49 am
Richt and UGA football have become the laughing stock of the SEC.
Congratulations!
woebegong
March 15th, 2011
9:57 am
Gatorzone,
There would be a lot more slow days at the AJC, if they weren’t based in Atlanta and worried so much about UGA, since it is in Athens. If they have nothing to write about Tech. that is good, they will always find something to write about UGA, that is negative. That is how they justify some of their readership, and can say that they are successful.
They even report in a column titled “Junkyard Dawg”, about Ohio States problems, and what that has to do with UGA escapes me. It’s all about getting comments in the blogs they write, and the more they can get negative comments about anything, the more they feel they are succeeding at their jobs.
Ron Smith
March 15th, 2011
10:08 am
As I see it: (Sorry Dawg Fans)
WIN LOSE
Costal Carolina Boise St
Ole Miss South Carolina
Vandy Miss St
New Mex St Tenessee
Florida
Auburn
Kentucky
GA Tech
Just Saying
March 15th, 2011
10:10 am
Doesn’t that constitute a ‘practice’ in the eyes of the NCAA ?
woebegong
March 15th, 2011
10:14 am
Just saying,
You have to check with the AJC on that ruling. I am sure they must have a legal staff, just devoted to the NCAA rule books. LOL.
DaMan
March 15th, 2011
10:21 am
woebegong,
It’s not a matter of childish comments, it’s the fact that so many UGA fans have a holier than thou mentality until it comes back to bite them…..now that there are two NCAA situations (Crowell and Drew), then all of the sudden it’s the “oh, but they were only little bitty infractions”……and they start justifying the size of the infraction……Listen, I know that this is ticky tack about lining the kid up in the backfield (who cares?), but it is the attitude of the UGA faithful….
guest
March 15th, 2011
10:28 am
Say it aint so. UGA violating a NCAA rule? LOL
Watch the blind loyal Dog fans attempt to down play this. Guarantee you the GA Coaches and
Admin knew this was a violation, but did it anyway.
Where’s that moral compass…now?
Terrell
March 15th, 2011
10:29 am
I wonder if any of the books about UGA football include the perspective of someone speaking for the late Jan Kemp? The perspective that “student” athletes like Lindsay Scott were playing years without taking college level courses? That the proudest moment of the football program was earned by players who never earned a single college credit?
Dawgtards love to return to 1980, but their memories are really short when it comes to remembering an earthshaking event that happened a few years later that showed the world what a joke UGA athletes were and what a scam artist their beloved Vince Dooley was (and is). So for all those dawgtards with short memories or who think their athletes are actually taking real courses and trying to graduate, here’s the quote that broke the trial wide open and showed what a slimeball Dooley is:
O. Hale Almand Jr., a lawyer for the defense, offered a justification for the favorable treatment accorded the athletes, citing a hypothetical player. “We may not make a university student out of him,” he told the jury, “but if we can teach him to read and write, maybe he can work at the post office rather than as a garbageman when he gets through with his athletic career.”
Nothing has changed at UGA, they just do a slightly better job of keeping things quiet, but that’s hard to do when 44 of your player-thugs have been arrested, isn’t it?
UGA: WINNER OF THE FULMER CUP AND THE CESSPOOL OF THE SOUTH.
DawginLex
March 15th, 2011
10:29 am
Colonel Reb is an idiot.
Ole P!ss
4-8
Masoli
Nutt house
MSU’s b!otch
2011:
UGA 49
OleP!ss 14
DawginLex
March 15th, 2011
10:31 am
Terrell
Need to re-check your facts retard.
Auburn in a landslide for the Fulmer Cup
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/
Nanny Mae
March 15th, 2011
10:39 am
Now that we’re in the off-season, wouldn’t this be the perfect time to take an in-depth look at UGA and have a serious discussion about the problems at UGA and why the arrest rate of players is the highest in the country? it’s common knowledge that UGA is a party school, but have any dawgtard players every actually graduated with a real degree? Jan Kemp exposed the school and the coaches almost three decades ago, but there is no sign that anything has improved; if anything, the arrest rate shows that things are getting more outrageous every year while the clueless Mark Richt has absolutely no control over his players. And then there is the infamous “red panties” incident that will haunt UGA for decades.
UGA has become a major embarrassment to all Georgians, and we want some answers starting now.
Delbert D.
March 15th, 2011
10:40 am
DawginLex – Do the four Auburn guys charged with armed robbery count toward 2010 or 2011? Will Bobby Lowder pay the $2.44 million to bail them out?
Carolina Gator Lover
March 15th, 2011
10:44 am
Penalty not harsh enough, I hope the NCAA comes down on the cheat’n dawgs
woebegong
March 15th, 2011
10:45 am
DaMan,
Every schools fans have that same attitude. If you don’t believe that just read these blogs. Auburn fans are so darn defensive about Cam, that they shoot negative comments about anybody who would question anything said about him. It is by far, not confined to just UGA alone, by any stretch of the imagination.
UGA fans really believe that we have an honest, religous coach, who attempts to do things the right way. They also hate that we have had a couple of down years. It is naturally to be expected, that when fans of other schools, come onto a blog about UGA, and are always negative, you want to defend the school you support. I am sure that is true on any schools blog in the country.
I am just saying that we all need to be a little considerate of each o9ther, and remember, we are all in the same conference. If one school makes a mistake, it reflects bad on the whole conference. I spent four year in Wisconsin and you would not believe how negative they are about people from the south. Maryland, Delaware and most other northern areas all seem to think bad of the south. We do not need to add any fuel to their fires, believe me. A little respect by all, would help a little bit in disproving that image.
Those other conferences have fans that defend their schools just as vigorously as SEC fans do theirs. It is for sure not just a southern team. I will also grant that a certain amount of envy enters into the equation, both in the SEC and the whole NCAA. It is just counter productive in my way of thinking to be obsessed about another school, to the point of using childish remarks to disparge each other. Maybe it makes some folks feel good about themselves I suppose.
GOOOOOO DAWGSSSSSSS
Delbert D.
March 15th, 2011
10:47 am
“have any dawg… players every actually graduated with a real degree?”
I’m not a Georgia fan as my first preference, but give it a rest “Nanny Mae.” Fred Munzenmaier graduated with a degree in Finance. That’s a pretty tough course of study.
TheAntiMe
March 15th, 2011
10:47 am
That’s convenient, now Mark Richt has time to work in a couple of extra Ford truck commercials next month.
woebegong
March 15th, 2011
10:59 am
Proves my point on here. Reasonable discussion about things, must be beyond most of your capabilities. OH well, I guess I will just have to ignore these comments and take them for what they are worth. Nothing at all.
GOOOOOO DAWGSSSSSSSSS
SiddyBoy
March 15th, 2011
11:32 am
I always thought that on game day there’s another team on the other side of the ball !!! I hope we scored !!!!!!!!!!!!
Real Vol S
March 15th, 2011
11:32 am
richt’s job is on the line–he’s breaking every rule in the book to get good recruits. It will not matter—Ga loses 3-4 games in 2011 and will be in another minor bowl, somewhere cold. Mark this down: UT upsets the dawgs!!
Blood Mountain Bulldog
March 15th, 2011
11:36 am
NCAA should focus more coaches who over sign prospects and those coaches who hide info from the NCAA and the institutions, who employ them.
Some of these rules are asinine, anyway.
GDAWG65
March 15th, 2011
11:46 am
The NCAA should concentrate its violation monitoring on their game officials that continue to make incorrect penalty calls. The SEC has to have the most inept officials on a football field anywhere.
Colonel Reb
March 15th, 2011
11:54 am
When Tennessee beats Georgia this year in Knoxville, it won’t be an upset.
Colonel Reb
March 15th, 2011
11:55 am
GDAWG,
Do you really believe Georgia is losing all of those games because of the refs?
Colonel Reb
March 15th, 2011
11:58 am
The NCAA and SEC have already spoken on oversigning.
NCAA = 85 scholarships on enrollment day.
SEC = 25 scholarships on National Signing Day.
It’s cut and dried.
killerj
March 15th, 2011
12:01 pm
Same Old flea bag,s,stepping in the dog $hit. THWG,”4 to 1 baby”! Looking for #5.