The "U" and the Death Penalty
Ever since “the Death Penalty” was introduced in the lexicon of college sports fan at the time of the SMU football debacle in 1986, the term has been thrown around whenever a NCAA member institution appears to be charting a course of rampant misbehavior bordering on lack of institutional control, however, no major college has been given the Death Penalty since SMU, however, that may change starting now. By now most people have already heard about the Yahoo! Sports Investigative Report wherein former University of Miami booster and convicted felon Nevin Shaprio informed Yahoo! Sports over the course of 100 hours of jailhouse interviews that he provided improper benefits to 72 players, although Yahoo! confirmed it was 73 players, seven coaches and three support staff members, who he said either received illicit benefits, witnessed the booster giving them, or played some role in his improper activity.
Beginning in 2002 and concluding in 2010, Shapiro said he had an eight-year run of rampant NCAA rule-breaking, some of it with the knowledge or direct participation of at least seven coaches from the Miami football and basketball programs. Shapiro said that the benefits to athletes included cash, prostitutes, entertainment in his multimillion-dollar homes and yacht, paid trips to high-end restaurants and nightclubs, jewelry, bounties for on-field play (including bounties for injuring opposing players), travel and, on one occasion, an abortion. According to the Yahoo! Sports report, Shapiro’s actions would potentially breach multiple parts of at least four major NCAA bylaws, and possibly many more. Shapiro actions may have violated multiple parts of bylaw 11, involving impermissible compensation to coaches; multiple parts of bylaw 12, involving amateurism of athletes; multiple parts of bylaw 13, involving improper recruiting activity; and multiple parts of bylaw 16, involving extra benefits to athletes. Based on Shapiro’s allegations, the NCAA is undertaking its own investigation and may levy the dreaded Death Penalty on The U.
The Death Penalty rule stipulates that if a second major violation occurs at any institution within five years of being on probation in the same sport or another sport, that institution can be barred from competing in the sport involved in the second violation for either one or two seasons. In cases of particularly egregious misconduct, a school can also be stripped of its right to vote at NCAA conventions for four years. The NCAA Infractions Committee will need to independently corroborated the alleged violations through sources other than a convicted felon before even considering the Death Penalty. The Death Penalty would be a horrendous blow to a storied program such as The U, however, the NCAA may need to set an example for its member institutions as it seems that many of the major football programs have been implicated in the past 18 months. Including Miami, one-quarter of the ACC has been embattled by football violations, and one-half of the ACC’s Coastal Division (Miami, UNC, and Georgia Tech) has been implicated in scandals. Additionally, Southern California, Ohio State, Auburn, Oregon, Michigan, and LSU, many of the who’s who of college football, have all been investigated or sanctioned within the past 18 months. The only way this systematic problem may be resolved is through the Death Penalty for a program that is no stranger to sanctions. Just when a new football coach (Al Golden), basketball coach (Jim Laranaga), and AD (Shawn Eichorst) were brought into the fold, The U might fall on some hard times. For now Miami has to prepare for its opening game on national TV, September 5th at the University of Maryland, by then Miami might now have much of a team. Stay tuned because this game is far from over.
My name is Christopher Fusco. I am the managing partner of Callahan & Fusco, LLC with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.