POSTED: Thursday June 17th 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Michael L. Buckner Law Firm Presents: The USC NCAA Infractions Report: Addressing High-Profile Student-Athletes
Collegiate Administration Best Practices
June 17, 2010: In 2008, the Michael L. Buckner Law Firm issued an advisory concerning the hidden dangers in the recruitment and enrollment of high-profile student-athletes at NCAA member institutions. The 2008 advisory recommended schools: conduct due-diligence reviews of high-profile prospective student-athletes; and operate due-diligence monitoring programs for high-profile enrolled student-athletes. However, on June 10, 2010, the University of Southern California (USC) became the latest school penalized for rules-violations involving high-profile student-athletes. The Committee on Infractions’ decision reinforced NCAA member institutions’ obligation to proactively identify and monitor high-profile student-athletes.
CASE OVERVIEW
The Committee on Infractions penalized USC for violations in its football, men’s basketball and women’s tennis programs. The violations spanned almost four years, primarily involving agent and amateurism issues for two high-profile student-athletes: former football student-athlete Reggie Bush and former men’s basketball student-athlete OJ Mayo. The findings in the USC enforcement case included a lack of institutional control, impermissible inducements, extra benefits, exceeding coach staff limits, and unethical conduct by an assistant football coach.
In the public infractions report, the Committee on Infractions noted it was “troubled” by the “general campus environment surrounding the violations.” Specifically, the Committee noted:
· “Maintaining institutional control of [high-profile student-athletes’] conduct presents unique challenges to compliance staff. Close monitoring and follow through on information [concerning high-profile student-athletes] must be employed. In this case, the institution failed to heed clear warning signs. Also, adequate resources must be dedicated to compliance.”
· “Because of the clandestine nature of intentional rules violations, institutions need to have well-conceived processes in place to assist in uncovering potential violations.”
· “Yet [USC] failed to take a ‘proactive’ stance or investigate concerns and questions that arose regarding the relationship.”
· “The failure of the institution to recognize warning signs, to be proactive in monitoring its athletics program, and to follow through on information regarding possible rules violations resulted in a finding of lack of institutional control.”
PENALTIES
The Committee on Infractions imposed the following penalties on USC: four years probation; a two-year football postseason ban; a one-year basketball postseason ban; vacation of regular and postseason wins for all three involved sports; scholarship reductions for football and basketball; recruiting restrictions for men’s basketball; $5,000 financial penalty; forfeiture of revenue from the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament; limitations for the access granted to boosters and non-university personnel to team charters, sidelines, practices, locker rooms and camps for men's basketball and football; disassociation from three boosters, including the former football and men's basketball student-athletes involved in this case; and one-year show cause order against an assistant football coach.
BEST PRACTICES AND SOLUTIONS
The rules-violations in the USC enforcement case, or any situation involving high-profile student-athletes, can be avoided on university campuses. Specifically, presidents/chancellors, general counsel and athletics administrators should do the following to minimize rules-violations involving high-profile student-athletes:
· Implement policies and procedures to conduct due diligence reviews of high-profile prospective student-athletes during the recruiting process and/or prior to initial full-time enrollment. [Contact Michael Buckner (954-941-1844) for more information on due-diligence reviews.]
· Implement policies and procedures to monitor and identify “red flags” concerning high-profile enrolled student-athletes (including the students’ parents, guardians and individuals associated with a prospect). [Contact Michael Buckner (954-941-1844) for more information on due-diligence monitoring programs.]
· Register for the “USC-NCAA Investigation: Strategies to Address High-Profile Student-Athlete Issues” session during the July 23, 2010, College Sports Coffee Break Workshop at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. The program will assist general counsel and higher education professionals with identifying, as well as developing solutions to minimize legal and rules-compliance challenges concerning, high-profile student-athletes.
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Issues of Collegiate Administration Best Practices can be downloaded on the “Best Practices and Information Nuggets” page of the Michael L. Buckner Law Firm website (http://www.michaelbucknerlaw.com).
You can contact Michael L. Buckner, Esquire, P.I., (954-941-1844; mbuckner@michaelbucknerlaw.com) if you have any questions on this issue or need to address a complex NCAA enforcement investigative or appellate issue.
The Michael L. Buckner Law Firm, a boutique legal and investigative firm, assists college and university presidents, general counsel and athletic directors address complex NCAA enforcement investigations and appeals. The law firm website can be found at http://www.michaelbucknerlaw.com.
Michael L. Buckner Law Firm
1000 West McNab Road, Suite 181
Pompano Beach, Florida 33069
(954) 941-1844 (Office)
(954) 735-4204 (Facsimile)
mbuckner@michaelbucknerlaw.com (E-mail)
http://www.michaelbucknerlaw.com (Website)
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Keywords · Michael Buckner Law · NCAA · college sports · USC
Name: Michael L. Buckner
Organization: Michael L. Buckner Law Firm
Email:
Phone: (954) 941-1844
URL: http://www.michaelbucknerlaw.com
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