The Fallout From the U: Upwards of 13 Hurricanes Ruled Ineligible
As of late Thursday night, Miami concluded its internal investigation into the allegations of improper benefits received by current members of the Hurricanes through their association with Nevin Shapiro. After concluding its investigation, Miami began the process of ruling some members of its football team ineligible and will begin the reinstatement process. While Coach Golden would not disclose the names or the amount of the players which have been ruled ineligible, according to ESPN, up to 13 players have been ruled ineligible. Most notably, senior, starting quartberack Jacory Harris among numerous other current Hurricanes named in the Yahoo! Sports story is believed to have been ruled ineligible by the school. Now that Miami has concluded its own investigation and declared certain players ineligible, it is up to the NCAA to reinstate these players, and for Miami's sake, hopefully before its opener on September 5th. According to Coach Golden, being declared ineligible does not necessarily mean that any of the Hurricanes will miss anytime, this season. For now, all of the ineligible players are allowed to practice and participate in team activities, excluding games, until the NCAA rules on the athletes eligibility.
According to the NCAA's website, once a school discovers a student-athlete has been involved in a violation, it must declare the student-athlete ineligible, investigate the violation, and forward its report with a request for the student-athlete’s eligibility to be reinstated to the NCAA. Upon receipt of a request for reinstatement, the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff, acting upon authority granted by the NCAA Comittee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, makes the initial decision regarding reinstatement of a student-athlete’s eligibility. In order to determine the potential reinstatement, the Reinstatement Staff reviews various factors which include: 1) the nature and seriousness of the violation; 2) any impermissible benefits received by the student-athlete; 3) the student-athlete’s level of responsibility; 4) any mitigating factors presented by the school; 5) applicable NCAA guidelines; and 6) any relevant case precedent. The Reinstatement Staff's decision can come in the form of three possible results, 1) unconditional reinstatement; 2) reinstatement with conditions; and 3) remain ineligibile and not be reinstated. According to the NCAA, the third result is extremely rare. While the NCAA notes that most cases are normally resolved in one week from the date the school submits its documentation, there is no timeline for extreme circumstances. In this case, the NCAA will have a difficult task of sifting through all the documentation submitted to determine whether these Hurricanes violated the amateruism rules for taking improper benefits and the nature and extent of the benefits taken. While all cases should be handled based on the circumstances of the individual case, the NCAA may take this opportunity to send a strong message and try to curtail the rampant and excessive issues that have plagued amateur athletics for nearly three academic years. Kickoff is just 11 days away and a lot can happen to these players in that time. Here is hoping that Coach Golden has multiple depth charts which he can put into place in the event that numerous starts are ruled ineligible for the opener.
My name is Christopher Fusco. I am the managing partner of Callahan & Fusco, LLC with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.