The NCAA announced Tuesday that Southern Methodist University committed multiple rules violations that will impact the school’s basketball program.
SMU will be banned from postseason play for the 2015-16 season and receive a three-year reduction of scholarships by nine from 2016-17 through 2018-19. Mustangs head coach Larry Brown also will be suspended for 30 percent of SMU’s games this season for lack of head coach control.
The NCAA investigation found that a former assistant men’s basketball coach encouraged a student-athlete to enroll in an online course to meet NCAA initial eligibility standards and be admitted to the university. After the student enrolled in the course, a former men’s basketball administrative assistant obtained the student’s username and password and then completed all of his coursework.
The Division I Committee on Infractions panel that issued the decision noted that Brown did not have direction knowledge or involvement in the misconduct. However, the panel noted it did not see a record of steps he took to establish and ensure a culture of compliance within his program.
Brown did not immediately report the misconduct after learning about it in 2014, and he initially denied having any information about the conversations with the former administrative assistant and student-athlete.
These sanctions obviously represent a huge blow to SMU, which is expected to be a preseason top 25 team and a contender for the American Athletic Conference title.
It isn’t the first time a Brown-coached team has been disciplined, either, as Kansas and UCLA both were hit with NCAA sanctions when he coached at those schools.
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