St. Mary’s Placed On Four Years Of Probation

March 1, 2013 /

CBSSports

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/21791581/ncaa-hits-st-marys-with-probation-coach-bennett-suspended

The NCAA has placed St. Mary’s on four years of probation for a “failure to monitor its men’s basketball program,” reducing scholarships after it says the perennial mid-major power committed several recruiting violations.

A report by the NCAA Committee on Infractions released Friday found that Gaels coach Randy Bennett “acted unethically in his recruitment of international prospects” and “failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance.” Bennett will not be allowed to recruit off campus and will serve a five-game suspension next season.

St. Mary’s will still be allowed to participate in the West Coast Conference tournament and the NCAA tournament but can’t play in preseason or in-season tournaments. The men’s basketball program also will have a reduction in scholarships from 13 to 11 for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and an elimination of all foreign tours until the start of the 2017-18 season.

In addition, the NCAA charged an unnamed former assistant with unethical conduct, saying he “knowingly committed violations during the recruitment of three prospects.” The report said that the assistant arranged for travel to the United States and lodging with a local family for at least one recruit and that Bennett was aware of the activity.

“These should have been red flags,” Britton Banowsky, chair of the Committee on Infractions and commissioner of Conference USA, said during a conference call explaining the findings.

If the former assistant seeks employment at an NCAA member school in the next two years, he and the school must appear before the committee to determine if the school should be subject to the show-cause procedures. The NCAA also said St. Mary’s received “impermissible training and coaching sessions from trainers not employed by the school.”

The university said in a statement that it will accept the findings in the report but will consider an appeal on the penalties.