Not good.

ATHENS, Ohio -- The NCAA and Ohio University have announced a negotiated resolution of violations committed by Ohio's volleyball program dating back to October 2015. 

On April 18, 2019, Ohio University self-reported NCAA infractions involving violations of recruiting rules by the volleyball coaching staff. For the past several months, University officials and the Athletics Department have worked jointly with NCAA Enforcement staff to investigate this matter and to determine the facts of the case.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the NCAA and Ohio determined that the volleyball coaching staff arranged and provided impermissible recruiting inducements in the form of airfare for one or both of the parents of eight prospective student-athletes on official paid visits occurring from October 2015 and to September 2018. Ohio and the NCAA staff further agreed that the institution failed to monitor and ensure compliance with NCAA legislation regarding official paid visits when it did not provide adequate NCAA rules education and training and failed to have an adequate system in place to monitor the provision of airline transportation during such visits in the women's volleyball program. However, the NCAA and Ohio agreed that the head women's volleyball coach promoted an atmosphere of compliance and monitored the activities of all institutional staff members involved with his program who reported directly or indirectly to him.  

The NCAA determined this case to be a Level II mitigated infraction. The NCAA noted Ohio's prompt acknowledgment of the violation, acceptance of responsibility and imposition of meaningful corrective measures, affirmative steps to expedite final resolution of the matter, an established history of self-reporting Level III or secondary violations and the absence of prior conclusions of Level I, Level II or major violations committed by the institution. The NCAA also acknowledged that the violations were unintentional, limited in scope and represent a deviation from otherwise compliant practices by the institution. Ohio has since increased the level of rules education provided to Athletics staff regarding NCAA recruiting legislation and has revised Athletics business office procedures for the review of various recruiting processes, including official visits.

Through the NCAA process of negotiated resolution, the NCAA and Ohio have agreed upon the facts of this case and have mutually determined the appropriate sanctions. Upon initial discovery of the violations in April 2019, Ohio imposed recruiting restrictions, issued suspensions of the coaching staff involved and filed reinstatement requests to the NCAA on behalf of the student-athletes whose parents received the recruiting inducements. All student-athletes were reinstated, and all eligibility was restored, prior to the 2019 volleyball season. Further, the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions subsequently reviewed and approved the following additional penalties:

1. One year of probation.
2. The institution shall pay a fine of $5,000 to the NCAA.
3. Recruiting restrictions.
4. Public reprimand and censure through the release of the public infractions decision.
5. A vacation of records of contests in which student-athletes participated while ineligible. The University must provide a written report containing the contests impacted to the NCAA media coordination and statistics staff within 14 days of the public release of the decision.

Click here for the NCAA Committee on Infractions Report, which includes a detailed list of penalties and the complete negotiated resolution. 

STATEMENT FROM OHIO DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS JULIE CROMER:
"NCAA rules compliance continues to be a top priority of Ohio Athletics. I appreciate the efforts of the Ohio University Legal Affairs staff, who assisted us in resolving this case, as well as the thorough and professional way in which the NCAA worked with us to resolve this matter. Our standards of integrity, conduct and compliance remain extremely high, and our policies and procedures have been updated accordingly to address the monitoring deficiencies uncovered through this case." 

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