UGA hit with Level I secondary violation for inadvertent text messages
The SEC has determined that the text messages Georgia coach Mark Richt inadvertently sent to the father of an elite in-state recruit in May constituted a Level I secondary violation of NCAA rules.
That’s the bad news. The good news is UGA was granted relief from the standard minimum penalty associated with Level I violations “based on the fact there was no content to the text messages,” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive reported in a July 6 letter to the NCAA. The letter was obtained by the AJC through a Freedom of Information request.
Georgia has yet to hear back from the NCAA approving the SEC’s actions, but that is considered a formality.
“We have nothing to say on this subject,” Georgia Athletic Director Greg McGarity said.
In McGarity’s May 27 letter of explanation to Slive, he reports that Richt accidentally sent two text messages from his Blackberry to the father of Harris County defensive end Jordan Jenkins on May 26th. Jenkins is considered by many the top prospect in Georgia. Text messages to prospects or their family members are impermissible per NCAA rules until one day after a prospect has signed a national letter of intent with the school.
In the first instance, Richt received a text from Ron Jenkins asking for camp dates. Since Richt did not have the number programmed in his phone, the text was identified as “unknown.” Richt intended to forward the text to a recruiting assistant for identification but accidentally replied to Mr. Jenkins, which was a violation NCAA Bylaw 13.4.1.2.
Richt immediately reported the inadvertent violation to compliance director Eric Baumgartner, who subsequently asked Richt if Mr. Jenkins had replied. In an attempt to forward Mr. Jenkins’ response to Baumgartner, Richt accidentally replied to Mr. Jenkins again, hence he had to report another text violation.
Level I secondary violations are more serious than Level II violations. But this particular violation was considered Level I only because it involved inpermissible contact of a recruit.
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259 comments Add your comment
Tampa Gator
July 30th, 2011
6:05 pm
Beast from the East…….
Did you watch the spring game.,,,,,more of the same from the 8-5 year…..except he was much worse. I am sure Weis will keep it very simple for him….because I think that is all he can handle. Brantley has the physical tools to be a good SEC QB…..but unfortunately…..I don’t think he has the innate mental skills to play the postion effectively in the SEC. I hope I am wrong…..and I am surprise in a major way. That would be great for all Gator fans…..but everyone I run into….that is a Gator fan….is fretting the start of the season with Brantley at QB.
Poopdawg
July 30th, 2011
6:07 pm
Driskell is a stud . Was he early enrolled? Brantley maybe fine this year. I still remember Jason Campbell at Auburn. Stunk his first 3 yrs then Borges took over as OC and Jason played his last yr like an all american.
Beast from the East
July 30th, 2011
6:09 pm
Tampa Gator,
Yes, I saw the spring game but you have to remember that we had so many players out that it will be a totally different deal when they start practice for the fall. I still have hope for Brantley. The coaching staff last year didn’t do him any favors with their game-plans and play-calling.
History tells the tale
July 30th, 2011
6:09 pm
I’ve never understood how anyone could support and take pride in UGA’s football team. When you look at their history for the past forty years, how can anyone ignore Jan Kemp and the “remedial studies” scam, the Jim Harrick fiasco, the DUIs in the athletic office, the DUIs and other arrests of players, the #1 party school tag (i.e., the most drunk students), the suspensions and outright dismissals, the Fulmer Cup, and on and on?
As disgraceful and humiliating as it is, I don’t see many alums and fans demanding an end to this sordid activity. It sets UGA apart as the kind of school decent people abhor, and it’s become an embarrassment to the whole state of Georgia.
Will it never end? Apparently not while Mark Richt is at UGA. Richt is perhaps the biggest hypocrite in the United States. But even with all the cheating and lawlessness that he ignores, he still can’t win the SEC.
So you’re paying him to be BCS champions, but he can’t even win his SEC division. So why do you pay him millions of dollars a year?
Just asking.
Tampa Gator
July 30th, 2011
6:10 pm
and….Beast from the East…..
I raved about Brantley last summer…..based on everything I read about his play in practice leading up to game one (when he wears the protective jersey and can’t be hit). Then…..we all know the rest of the story from last year. He is just not a natural QB….you can just see it when he is on the field. Usually…..the innate skills don’t improve….you either have them (like Murray at Georgia…who does not have the natural passing skills that Brantley has….but is an innate QB on game day) or you don’t….and I don’t think Brantley has those kind of naturally born skills. Murphy does. Driskell does. Brissett does. So the future is very bright at QB for Florida….but this year….I am very concerned.
Tampa Gator
July 30th, 2011
6:12 pm
Beast…..
A great QB steps up when other players are down…..Brantey stepped down even more in the spring game…..and that showed me he isn’t the MAN for the job…..but I hope I am wrong….but I doubt it.
Poopdawg
July 30th, 2011
6:13 pm
History tale, you spew this same crap under different names constantly. Delta is ready when you are.
Tampa Gator
July 30th, 2011
6:13 pm
Poopdawg…..
John Brantley probably will never play QB for the Redskins or the Raiders……he might be a back up in the Arena league, however.
Beast from the East
July 30th, 2011
6:17 pm
Tampa Gator,
Yeah, we all raved about him last summer. Him and Addazio made us out to be foolish. But, I still haven’t given up in Brantley…..yet!
Tampa Gator
July 30th, 2011
6:18 pm
Beast….
I had to come on here this year and admit I overestimated the skills of Branley last year. I sincerely hope I can come back on here during the season and tell you I was wrong about Brantley again. I went to school….and had classes…..with his father at Florida (also a QB for a very lousy Gator team in those days). If John had the guts and determination that his dad had….and played with at Florida….he was 5′10 and about 155 lbs….and ran head into big, Bama and LSU LBs and usually came up smiling…..then we would be a great QB at Florida. So far, he did not get his dad’s genes….he got his moms.
Mad Dog One
July 30th, 2011
6:22 pm
@it’s Richt, stupid the comment you just made about Richt cheating only goes to show you are dumb as a sack of hammers.
Beast from the East
July 30th, 2011
6:24 pm
Tampa Gator,
We’ll find out pretty quickly, I suspect. I just want the kid to have a fair chance and I don’t think the coaching staff did that last year. He lost all confidence early in the season.
rogeriter
July 30th, 2011
6:33 pm
Does any know of a site where true adult Dawg fans can talk about football rather than reading all of this teenage Charlie stuff about whose the worse violators or criticizing coaches? Grow up!
How bout them BEES!!!!
July 30th, 2011
6:40 pm
CHEATERS!!!! Take their championship away. OH!! YEAH!! That’s right,they don’t have one. NEVER MIND!
graydog
July 30th, 2011
6:47 pm
Lighten up folks. I’m about Richt’s age and am glad I don’t have to report it to anyone or get penalized every time I butt dial or accidentally reply to a text message I meant to delete.
RedandBlackDAWG
July 30th, 2011
6:48 pm
Some of you UGA haters on here need to think just for a minute. I know that is going to be hard, but give it your best shot. He got charged with a level 1 minor violation, but since the text message contained no data, they aren’t going to penalize UGA. Now, if the messages were empty, like some of you UGA haters heads are, how in the good lords name can they even be considered a message and therefore a violation. Do half of you brainless people secretly work for the NCAA enforcement committee or something. I guess some of you on here think, that the recruits dad and CMR, had some type of double secret, dual encrypted message code and CMR actually got away with something.
Blackoutanyone?
July 30th, 2011
6:57 pm
Tampa… As much as I enjoyed watching UF sputtering through their spring game… I wouldn’t read too much into it. Actually you probably won’t see UF open up the play book until the Bama game. I think this is the year for teams in the east to get the Gators.. cause they will be hell to deal with again very soon. Roll Tide
RedandBlackDAWG
July 30th, 2011
7:09 pm
It’s Richt, Stupid,
That has got to be one of the most stupid comments anybody has made on a blog concerning UGA to date. You do not even qualify for troll membership with that one. Using your logic, (And that is one heck of a stretch to call it logic), CMR has waited ten years so he could really sink UGA with all of the dishonest things he has been doing during that time. Please tell me you haven’t graduated from Middle School yet, or your parents have wasted a whole bunch of money on your education, or rather lack of it. Do you not even think before you type such stupid statements and expose your ignorance to the world?
What school has the great pleasure of calling you a fan anyway?
Blackoutanyone?
July 30th, 2011
7:11 pm
Next year could be a banner year recruiting for UA in the state of Georgia. Bama has a very good shot at sweeping the top 3 in the state.
Loganville, Ga DL Robert Nkemdiche (Bama lean)
Lagrange, GA LB Reuben Foster (Bama commit)
Newnan defensive back Tray Matthews (UGA/Bama)
FBFan
July 30th, 2011
7:17 pm
Explain to me why Dad has CMRs cell phone number? But they are not talking/texting?
DAWG
July 30th, 2011
7:34 pm
To its Richt stupid, you have lost your mind!
Vince Lombardi
July 30th, 2011
7:45 pm
Who paid Isiah Crowell’s 20 parking tickets?? Wasn’t him I guarantee that.
RedandBlackDAWG
July 30th, 2011
7:48 pm
FBFAN,
Duh, could he have gotten it from his son, since I am sure that there are times that the recruit can actually talk to the coach if he has a question.
RedandBlackDAWG
July 30th, 2011
7:50 pm
Vince,
I assume you have a reliable source for that claim of 20 tickets. Were they tickets on campus or in downtown Athens? I assume you have a police blotter to substantiate your claim.
AfghanHound
July 30th, 2011
8:37 pm
Don’t tell me VaTech coach Beamer didn’t know about the Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Donnan. Beamer said he got his money out of the investment, while many many others lost their shirt. Beamer is just as dirty as Donnan.
Mr. GFR
July 30th, 2011
8:37 pm
Greg McGarity: “Mark, Give me that damn cell phone right now!”
Dostoveyskiy
July 30th, 2011
8:47 pm
I can just see it now. Crowell double parks while LeMay runs in for a quicke.
Redneck Bill from Trailerville
July 30th, 2011
9:01 pm
Well, we got to take that Blackberry away from Richt. I’m tired of reading about how he texted somebody illegally when he started playing pocket pool and accidently hit the wrong key. He’s a danger to our team. I mean, I can take reading about this player and that player going to jail and such, but I can’t take anymore stories about Richt and his texting.
wes
July 30th, 2011
9:05 pm
Enter your comments here
wes
July 30th, 2011
9:07 pm
Tech fan here…how is this even a story?
“Mark Richt Butt-Dials Top Recruit”…and it’s a LEVEL 1 violation? What the hell is a LEVEL 2 violation…looking at a recruit on the internet on a Wednesday or something?
NCAA is a joke.
Coach Lil Gorilla
July 30th, 2011
9:19 pm
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Destin Dawg
July 30th, 2011
9:20 pm
blog says ” UGA SPORTS “….. not GT… not Gators… ” UGA SPORTS ” !! I wouldn’t get on GT or Gator sports unless I was a complele TROLL…. get a LIFE !!
WONDERING
July 30th, 2011
9:22 pm
How did this become another haggle between the Nerds and the Rednecks? Should have just been an informative blog. Just wondering.
UGA
July 30th, 2011
9:24 pm
Hey, if we can’t win the recruiting wars following the rules then CHEAT! We are losing far too many of Georgia’s most promising recruits to Bama, Auburn, Clemson, FSU and South Carolina so keep up the cheating Richt!!! That’s one sure way to turn the program around…Just ask Chizak.
S.E. Dawg
July 30th, 2011
9:31 pm
How long ago was it the CMR accidentally made the text. I know it’s been awhile. If it takes the NCAA this long to rule on that, then Jarvis Jones will never see the field this year. And yes, at this point in time I think I’m for the major schools to pull out from the NCAA.
Biggdawgk
July 30th, 2011
9:32 pm
Again the AJC is all over a story about UGA and text messages that have no text and therefor can’t really be called a message. However, a real story concerning gt and the lieing cheating embarrassment that technical school is to the city of Atlanta and the entire state is ignored.
I understand no one really cares about the north ave trade school and they will never be relevant but come on ajc! That pathetic trade school is a quick bike ride from your offices and y’all still can’t break the story?
Truther
July 30th, 2011
9:38 pm
The athletic history of UGA is full of so many sordid, sleazy incidents – dating back to Vince Dooley and continuing through Mark Richt – that it’s impossible to overlook. The school has come to stand for drunkenness and lawlessness, coddling of illiterate athletes who should never have been admitted to college, and rampant cheating by coaches.
Cheating is just a way of life in Athens.
superDawg
July 30th, 2011
9:53 pm
Well at least we get to keep our acc title.
indianman
July 30th, 2011
9:58 pm
gt i am a georgia bulldog fan and i made and a in reading in school so know what you nare talking about before you open your mouth
DJ
July 30th, 2011
10:04 pm
I just laughed out loud when I read a guy who calls himself POOPdawg calling me a dumb ***….seriously, a guy can pick any random name and he chooses POOPdawg. Pretty clever if he’s a plumber, but I’m not betting on it, eh POOPster?
AFLAC duck
July 30th, 2011
10:22 pm
DJ, if you want to talk about Einstein coaches…and I think that is what the also brilliant staff of the AJC called him after he supposedly let us score last year so he could try to go 80 yards and do the same thing!
DJ
July 30th, 2011
10:59 pm
Duck, missing your point here?? It didn’t work, we lost, so not sure it matters. But you do realize that it was the only way to even have a chance at getting the ball back? So, it wasn’t a bad move. Again, what was your point?
Tdawg
July 30th, 2011
11:06 pm
Poopdawg what is your hang up with red panties. Good grief, your ole lady don’t wear panties or something? Crap borrow some from your mama if she has any if you’re that worried about panties.
Tdawg
July 30th, 2011
11:10 pm
Truther you may want to change your user name to Liarerther.
NCBulldawg86
July 30th, 2011
11:27 pm
I bet you were kinda hoping this was a major violation, Chip, weren’t you? It’s okay to admit. But guess what? No arrests, players NOT stepping out of line being stupid(he says with crossed fingers, whistling aimlessly while looking skyward…), etc., and this is what you get to jump on? Imagine that. A whole bunch of other BS out there to latch onto and report, but this? A non-message errant “text”??? Guess this helps fill the “quota” of UGA stories you must spew. Just… “damn”.
That aside, Happy 20th to you and your wife.
RedandBlackDAWG
July 30th, 2011
11:30 pm
gorilla,
What in the world are you trying to say, with that bunch of crap you just wasted web space for above. Please tell me school starts next week, anybody.
Truther
July 30th, 2011
11:47 pm
“Truther you may want to change your user name to Liarerther.”
No, no reason to. The sleazy history of UGA is well documented. There haven’t been any coaches with values and integrity since before Slimeball Vince Dooley and his remedial studies scam.
Moron Dawg Fan
July 30th, 2011
11:57 pm
Hey, give Gorilla a break……..he’s the head of the UGA IT department….pretty much the smartest man on campus!
RED DOG 77
July 31st, 2011
1:19 am
101…….Wow! didn’t think I could ever get it done!…….Kudos to me?
Crowell's facebook page/Lowcountry Bulldawg is a d---he
July 31st, 2011
1:53 am
the fleabags cheat and STILL cant win a big game.