Report: Tennessee Investigated for ‘Major’ NCAA Rules Violations in Multiple Sports
Featured Columnist IVJanuary 30, 2024
Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire by skill of Getty Photos
The College of Tennessee will be facing fundamental NCAA sanctions down the line.
Pat Forde of Sports actions Illustrated reported the SEC athletic program “is immersed in yet another NCAA investigation of doable rules violations” with one provide describing it as a “fundamental” inquiry.
While there weren’t many info revealed, it’s some distance mentioned to involve multiple sports actions and imaginable title, image and likeness violations.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel confirmed the document:
Pete Thamel @PeteThamel
The investigation puts Tennessee within the crosshairs as a repeat violator from fresh NCAA ruling in July of 2023 from violations from used coach Jeremy Pruitt’s tenure. Tennessee’s argument within the case will be tied to vagaries in NIL rules.
As both Thamel and Forde highlighted, Tennessee’s excellent yelp will be that it’s a repeat violator following the NCAA’s 2023 punishment against the football team. Forde mighty the NCAA Committee on Infractions deemed that case “one amongst the worst the COI has viewed.”
It enthusiastic larger than 200 rules infractions and 18 Stage I violations from the football team alone.
Despite these violations, the COI avoided giving the Volunteers a postseason ban. As yet another, they had been fined larger than $8 million, compelled to vacate 11 wins from the 2019 and 2020 campaigns, and given assorted recruiting restrictions.
What’s more, used head coach Jeremy Pruitt—who used to be fired as allotment of Tennessee’s inner investigation—used to be given a six-twelve months price-position off penalty.
Forde reported the COI mentioned it used to be “reserving postseason bans for Stage I conditions that lack exemplary cooperation” at the time of the punishment, nevertheless yet another fundamental case so soon after the final one can even raise that into play.
The NIL technology is aloof reasonably unusual in college football and sports actions in traditional, and one provide educated Forde that Tennessee does no longer imagine it committed any violations given the NCAA’s “imprecise and contradictory” steering within the put of dwelling.
This comes at a time when Tennessee is upright initiating to invent some momentum beneath head coach Josh Heupel.
After failing to salvage double-digit video games in 14 consecutive seasons, the Volunteers went 11-2 and acquired the Orange Bowl correct thru his 2d twelve months in 2022. They adopted with a 9-4 document and Citrus Bowl victory in 2023 and appear to be trending toward a return to nationwide relevance after some down years.
Yet fundamental sanctions can even end that momentum, in particular because the SEC becomes even more aggressive with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma.
