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
G
March 14th, 2011
3:38 pm
The old Soviet Union was more relaxed than the NCAA… Sooner or later someone or some school is going to file suit against the NCAA for over governing.
dawg from a distance
March 14th, 2011
3:38 pm
The NCAA needs to investigate the IRS and the IRS needs to do the same for the NCAA. They are the only ones who could figure out the other because normal people sure can’t.
ClinchCountyCanine
March 14th, 2011
3:38 pm
Buckeye
I guess a tipped over outhouse would be a better analogy. Anyway its a real Sh#*@y situation up in Columbus.
schmeckdawg
March 14th, 2011
3:38 pm
Is this brutal, senseless, immoral violation going to cause IC to repeat his senior year of high school?
Dawg "Hatee" Williams
March 14th, 2011
3:39 pm
Is it a violation to lead a recruit in a student section chant about a rival? I want to hear recruits talking about sitting in a simulated student section chanting “F#*% the [insert rival here]!”
GSUperfan
March 14th, 2011
3:39 pm
Somewhere Cecil Newton is laughing his arse off. That’s not a violation…this is a violation!
AltamahaDawg
March 14th, 2011
3:39 pm
A little unfair to bash the AJC for reporting this story. It’s not headline in the World news section, nor have they made it out to be. It’s a story in the UGA sports section, namely the UGA beat blog. Shouldn’t it be? Is it not a typical offseason news item? Plenty to bash the AJC for other than this.
DawginLex
March 14th, 2011
3:39 pm
Just a reminder that none of this counts toward the Fulmer Cup for 2011.
That is reserved for felonies at Auburn.
Since Bama is Auburn’s b!otch, they can’t be far behind. They will have to copy big brother.
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/
Buckeye
March 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
Win With,
No more ( I spell it) weenie than Richt and his receding part down the middle and hairsprayed look, wouldn’t you agree?
I like Sweater Vests. They’re practical on the golf course. Own a few myself.
12 CRIMINAL CHARGES, 6 wins 7 LOSSES
March 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
no news here, this is GA….all those recruits, 7-5, 6-7….
BobDawg
March 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
Schmeckdawg… I just heard Charles Barkley say this rules violation was a “turrrrrrible violation”….
So what?
March 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
Not surprised this is AJC “news”. Can’t find anything more newsworthy that’s negative about UGA? I swear, you guys kill me.
The Ghost of Wally Butts
March 14th, 2011
3:41 pm
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…
DEAR MR FULMER CUP COMMISSIONER: Please allow recruiting violations to count toward FULMER CUP points. Auburn is ahead of us and we have to defend the one championship we can still win – the FULMER CUP.
Buckeye
March 14th, 2011
3:41 pm
Clinch,
There you go. I was hoping Yo Mama raised you better than that.
Dawg "Hatee" Williams
March 14th, 2011
3:41 pm
GSUperfan
March 14th, 2011
3:38 pm
Next the coaches will have to report if a recruit stands at a urinal between active players…
Is that the “Wing Pee” formation? I hope it is not the Veer.
Cecil Newton
March 14th, 2011
3:41 pm
IF UGA WOULD EVER STOP CHEATING, THERE WOULD BE NOTHING TO REPORT.
UGA IS GUILTY AGAIN!
schmeckdawg
March 14th, 2011
3:42 pm
BobDawg
March 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
Schmeckdawg… I just heard Charles Barkley say this rules violation was a “turrrrrrible violation”….
CLASSIC BobDawg!!!!!!!
DawginLex
March 14th, 2011
3:42 pm
ghost,
38 secondary violations and 28 moped riding episodes wouldn’t come close to taking Auburn’s Fulmer Cup for 2011
WIN WITH RICHT
March 14th, 2011
3:43 pm
Buckeye
Do you have matching lacy panties for your sweater vest?
GSUperfan
March 14th, 2011
3:44 pm
Shhh…Gene Chizick’s press conference is about to start…We at Auburn feel that Coach Richt’s egregious violation of NCAA rules not only signifies his level of respect for his fans, but also for the SEC as a whole. We are starting a petition for his immediate dismissal. Shame on you Coach Richt. Shame on you.
Rad Penties
March 14th, 2011
3:44 pm
… Georgia doesn’t want to be lumped in with the other recruiting sleaze buckets in the SEC.
You’re about forty years too late to prevent that.
In the 1986 Jan Kemp trial, O. Hale Almand Jr., a lawyer for UGA, 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.”
That trial exposed UGA for the football factory that it was, and exposed Vince Dooley as a fraud and a sleazebag. It also derailed Dooley’s plans for a political career. That’s why we see the decrepit old fraud doing TV commercials even now.
Mark Richt is just the latest in a line of sleazy UGA coaches who coddle athletes and discard them after four years of football. He recruits illiterate morons he knows aren’t smart enough for college, but he doesn’t care, as long as they help him line his pockets with millions of dollars each year.
Suntanned Saint Mark isn’t all he appears to be, is he?
mcdawg
March 14th, 2011
3:44 pm
well at most schools nobody cares but here in the ATL a story like this will generate 100s of comments and reactions-part of the landscape
Bodda Getta
March 14th, 2011
3:45 pm
Shhh…we want Richt there as long as possible!
UGADawg83
March 14th, 2011
3:46 pm
It honestly seems to me that the NCAA is more interested in tripping up schools than providing a clearly defined easy to understand recruiting process that has the best interests of the athletes and institutions at heart. Quite honestly the schools ARE the NCAA and maybe just maybe they need to take a look at a complete overhaul of the organization.
mcdawg
March 14th, 2011
3:46 pm
hey rad i think you got your panties on backwards
DawginLex
March 14th, 2011
3:46 pm
red penties,
You really need to reference my list of oft used stereotypical phrases regarding UGA. It saves TROLLS like you time and keeps us from having to view the same sheet all the time.
Moron
Criminals!!!!!!!
March 14th, 2011
3:46 pm
Good to see the Nerds over on Sting Talk continue to obsess over all things UGA football.
http://www.stingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52873
9-1……. I would be obsessed if somebody owned us that bad too. We beat Florida 3 times more than Tech beats us. And that is sad.
BobDawg
March 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
Scmeckdawg….Gracias! I will be at the Comedy Club this weekend! Cmon down for more laughs!
Pulpwud Smiff
March 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
Boise State 72, THUGA 10.
Buh Bye, dawgtards.
blord
March 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
Bob Dawg why don’t you say that to Barkley.
Les Grossman
March 14th, 2011
3:48 pm
Someone needs to take a few steps back and literally………..
DawginLex
March 14th, 2011
3:49 pm
pulpwood,
I’m about to have to break out my TROLL list…………
dawgtards is simply #13 on the list
THUGA is # 7
WIN WITH RICHT
March 14th, 2011
3:49 pm
WDE
How many Awbarn players were there on America’s Most Wanted this week?
At Awbarn, a highly sought after player is one on the run from the FBI.
DawginLex
March 14th, 2011
3:50 pm
Win with Richt,
The old one about 4 Auburn players sitting in a car, who is driving?
The cops!!!!!!!!
It applies!!!!!!!!!
schmeckdawg
March 14th, 2011
3:50 pm
BobDawg
March 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
Scmeckdawg….Gracias! I will be at the Comedy Club this weekend! Cmon down for more laughs!
Since both of our handles end in dawg, if I was to show up at the same place that you were, would that be an NCAAhole violation? I know, I know, that’s tuuuurrrriiiible!!!!!!!
phil
March 14th, 2011
3:50 pm
We don’t seem capable of even getting the signing part done right….unreal.
BobDawg
March 14th, 2011
3:51 pm
Blord, just reporting what I heard…..
Buckeye
March 14th, 2011
3:52 pm
Win With,
Nope. Sure don’t.
Could you help me break into the uga hall of shame, you know, the one where the keep the Liberty Bowl victory plaques, and grab the famous Damon Evans model?
I’d want a receipt, though, they may not match in broad daylight.
schmeckdawg
March 14th, 2011
3:52 pm
blord
March 14th, 2011
3:47 pm
Bob Dawg why don’t you say that to Barkley.
blord, why don’t you loosen that rubber band around your low hanging sack.
WIN WITH RICHT
March 14th, 2011
3:53 pm
DawginLex
Good one!!!!
DawginLex
March 14th, 2011
3:53 pm
phil,
What is not right?
1.) Crowell signed
2.) Nobody got arrested
3.) Nobody kicked off the team
4.) Richt doesn’t have to talk on the phone for a month
Sounds like it worked to me.
Bodda Getta
March 14th, 2011
3:53 pm
Buckeye,
Have you been over there lately?
They’re expanding the Butt Smear Hall Of Shame.
And with good reason.
Just Keep Pushing the Limits
March 14th, 2011
3:53 pm
Next he will let a recruit suit up and running a few trial plays in a game to see how it feels.
Peter
March 14th, 2011
3:54 pm
Well how long has Richt been a coach ?
Why doesn’t he know the rules yet ?
phil
March 14th, 2011
3:54 pm
How are things now over at good ole Fraudburn? No more Scam Newton nor Nick Unfairly but at least they still have Cheatzik and the 4 apparent felons…
BobDawg
March 14th, 2011
3:54 pm
Schmeckdawg…. I am checking the rules violation” NCAA Handbook of Affairs and Matters that pertain to All Collegiate Athletics both Mens and Womens along with said Sports both Major and Minor “with emphasis on Comedy Clubs when 2 alums with the same ending “handle” are at said Club
Dawghater
March 14th, 2011
3:55 pm
I bet Richt had them in black uni’s, black helmets, red panties and told them to dance in the endzone so the recruit would feel like he fit in!
DawginLex
March 14th, 2011
3:55 pm
Buckeye,
Now you should know better. Liberty Bowl plaques and Damon Evans/red panties are # 16 and 19 on my list……………..
Matt
March 14th, 2011
3:55 pm
So what?
This post is exactly my point. The ajc is nothing but anti-UGA everything. If this was tech’s player, it would be a non issue. That’s what happens when you have tech journalist running the sports section. Just like a few weeks ago when a tech player got a DUI and it wasn’t even mentioned on the front page. Hypocrites galore!
March 14th, 2011
3:40 pm
Not surprised this is AJC “news”. Can’t find anything more newsworthy that’s negative about UGA? I swear, you guys kill me.
WIN WITH RICHT
March 14th, 2011
3:56 pm
Buckeye
Where do yall store Maurice Clarett’s transcripts and Art Schlizter’s loaded dice?