Tim Reynold's reported the story tonight.
Miami has finally received its notice of allegations from the NCAA, marking the end of just one step in what's already been a two-year probe of the athletic department.
The allegations arrived on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter and who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the NCAA nor Miami authorized releasing any information publicly. The NCAA did not respond to a request for comment, and a Miami athletics spokesman said he had no knowledge of the letter's arrival.
Next up: The sanctions phase, where Miami's penalties will be decided. The Hurricanes have already self-imposed several sanctions, including sitting out two bowl games and a conference football championship game. Miami President Donna Shalala said Monday she believes those punishments should be enough.
Miami wants to get through the sanctions portion of the process as quickly as possible. But typically, it takes about three months for a hearing, and then can take several weeks - if not months - more for the penalties to be handed down. The sides coming to a settlement beforehand is another possibility.
Shalala/Miami released a statement tonight that was aggressive.
"We believe strongly in the principles and values of fairness and due process. However, we have been wronged in this investigation, and we believe that this process must come to a swift resolution, which includes no additional punitive measures beyond those already self-imposed.
She's correct, and the NCAA admitted as much already. Basically, Miami's position is the combination of living under a cloud for over 2 years, and self-imposed punishments, they've been penalized enough.
Then, this is where it gets good.
"In September 2010—two and a half years ago—the University of Miami advised the NCAA of allegations made by a convicted felon against former players and, at that time, we pledged our full cooperation with any investigation into the matter. One year later, in August 2011, when the NCAA's investigation into alleged rules violations was made public, I pledged we would 'vigorously pursue the truth, wherever that path may lead' and insisted upon 'complete, honest, and transparent cooperation with the NCAA from our staff and students.'
"The University of Miami has lived up to those promises, but sadly the NCAA has not lived up to their own core principles. The lengthy and already flawed investigation has demonstrated a disappointing pattern of unprofessional and unethical behavior. By the NCAA leadership's own admission, the University of Miami has suffered from inappropriate practices by NCAA staff. There have also been damaging leaks to the media of unproven charges. Regardless of where blame lies internally with the NCAA, even one individual, one act, one instance of malfeasance both taints the entire process and breaches the public's trust.
It's going to be interesting to say what additional punishments, if any the NCAA levies Miami with.
AP Source: Notice of allegations against Miami includes the dreaded "lack of institutional control" charge.— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) February 20, 2013
NBC Miami's Courtney Fallon:
If I'm not mistaken, it's a sweeping charge. Encompasses multiple infractions, hinting at major penalties..... Potentially.— Courtney Fallon (@CourtneyNBC6) February 20, 2013
There's a lot of things to discuss here, and a lot more news to come. Do you guys think the NCAA's mishandling of this case should impact Miami's punishment? Do you think there should be any additional sanctions, if so, then what? Woud your opinion change if it was Tech (as far-fetched as that may seem) instead of Miami?
Comments
On one hand, Miami's already had 2 years of bowl bans which has kept them out of the ACC Championship. The reasonable part of me says they've suffered enough, and the NCAA is way too heavy-handed.
On the other hand, it's Miami, and that stupid bird thing and all their fair-weather fans can go choke on it.
In all seriousness though, it's tough for me to have a ton of sympathy for them. Crap like boats-n-hos go hand-in-hand with "swagger," and when you build your program with that mentality, you eventually have to pay the piper. Plus, it's Miami. Screw them.
I agree.
If this were the Hokies, I 'd be all over Prez. Steger to raise holy hell over this.
But it's not. It's Miami. Fawk them.
This reminds me of the Ryan Braun steroids stuff. He wasn't penalized because of how they tested his piss. We all know he took the steroids, he just got lucky and was able to pin it back and dodge the bullet. Miami is doing the same thing. Where does this end? When do schools crack down on recruiting violations? The NCAA has continued to make itself look pitiful and insignificant with every investigation. I feel bad for saying they need to hit Miami hard regardless because if it was Tech I'd obviously feel differently. However, if schools can get away with stuff and lose some post season games and scholarships in exchange for (in some cases) national title runs, then why not?
That's just my opinion. And I hate Ryan Braun. And Major League Baseball.
Ironic considering Ryan Braun went to the U...
Penalties
Nail them to the wall and make an example out of them. Miami was out of control and if half is what is alleged is true, they deserve additional sanctions, especially in the scholarship department. The NCAA needs to get serious and put its foot down, especially in lieu of what they did to PSU. Investigations are messy jobs and mistakes are almost always made. So what if the NCAA investigators were over-zealous? Better that than kissing Miami tailfeathers. They had better get more than what USC got for one player going bad, since UM had a string of violations with multiple players.
Can you tell I do not like Miami's program? They are the antithesis of VT's program. Rule-breaking glamour boys who love their over-inflated reputation. MAKE THEM PAY!
Miami has already self-imposed some scholarship and recruiting punishments but they definitely need about 2-5 years of probation as well as additional scholarship reductions. I can't argue for additional post-season bans although I wouldn't be surprised if another was added due to the fact that this was such a big issue. Wouldn't it suck for them if they got a post-season ban in football and basketball? One where they are currently #2 in the nation in hoops and them BAM, no tourney for you.
Also, Shalala needs to go at Miami. On one hand, I like her because she's an idiot dragging them down. I mean there was a picture of her accepting a check from Shapiro! At the same time, she's an embarassment to their university with her accusations against the NCAA. Actually, I change my mind. I want her to stay there and keep being an idiot.
Hit em hard
The NCAA should treat the 'convicts' in Miami like Texas treats theirs: give 'em the death penalty.
It would be karmic justice if they got hammered after the UM guy (Paul Dee) who was the one who ran Miami during most of the Shapiro era, lectured USC about compliance during the Bush case. I mean, they took USC behind the woodshed for one player.
Realistically I think we can expect to see a few years of probation, some small scholarship reductions (5 a year for 3 years?), and an additional year of post-season ineligibility. I think the NCAA will take into account how Miami has handled the last 2 years and reduce those self-imposed sanctions from the overall penalty. Plus, they look like shit right now, and with all of the flack they're getting from the State of Pennsylvania (which is horseshit if you ask me) following PSU's sanctions, they might actually show some humility and be realistic here. The question is how much power they really feel like tossing around right now to "set an example".
As for the basketball team, I believe if they intend to punish the team they will wait to rule on both programs until after the tournament. It would just be way too much bad publicity during the NCAA's golden moment of the year. The last thing they want is for us to be talking about the U's non-inclusion in the tourney instead of Gus Johnson's ballistic buzzer beater call(s).
Screw da U We still need to
Screw da U
We still need to tie up our record against them
Pun Intended?
Well played, sir
+1
i'm trying to take my hatred for miami out of the equation when i look at what could be fair. but i just can't. i hope the ncaa gives some stiff punishment. the fact that the administration is saying theyve had enough punishment is ridiculous. i hope they slam the school....but for some reason i don't see it happening maybe some probation thats about it.
I, too, would like to see Miami get swiftly punished for what they have done, but I can only hope that the NCAA does it *mostly* right this time. It wouldn't feel right if Miami got hammered mostly because the NCAA can't even handle itself. I want a competent NCAA here, so that Miami and all their idiotic fans can't scream out "DA U GOT HOSED" or something along those lines. I'd rather see them all upset because they got slammed by the NCAA than have to listen to them complain about how they got treated unfairly.
Was reading your comment like normal until I got to "*mostly* right". Immediately switched to Billy Crystal's voice from The Princess Bride.
It's Da U
They'll be complaining about being treated unfairly and saying they'll be "back" anyways no matter what happens.
I can't look at this objectively, I just want their football program obliterated
I think that if some booster hooked a player up with a prostitute. Then payed for the prostitues abortion and the school covered it up in anyway. That school's entire atheletic program should be shut down. That is one of the sickest most immoral things I have ever heard.
I mean, it's bad. Not even
I mean, it's bad.
Not even close to the sickest things I've ever heard. Not even top 500.
someone has been on the internet for too long.
Well you know
Except for the institutional coverup of child rape.
I made the mistake...
of reading what HD had to say about all of this. Woof. Could she possibly be any further up Miami's rear? Somehow I think if this was VT going through the same thing, she'd be saying that the death penalty needs thrown down.
As far as what I think should be done. I realize I'm to biased to provide any substantive commentary. That being said, if even half of what Shapiro is alleging happened, the school needs some rather serious sanctions.
HD is Miami's whore.
She's a nice lady!
So?
Burn them to the ground
Charles Robinson's report is pretty clear, and he's said everything in his report was backed with documentation.
Sorry, the NCAA may have messed up, but that doesn't mean you can't punish someone for doing something wrong. To me, they should still receive punishment, and it should be more than the self imposed actions already taken.
Otherwise, how do you justify the death penalty to SMU years ago? Or what has happened to Penn State? You can't just slap UM on the wrist.
HD's hard-hitting reporting:
"On Tuesday night, while at the Miami men’s basketball game against Virginia, Miami president Donna Shalala was protected by a school media relations official and a police officer, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Shalala, though, isn’t the one who needs to be on guard anymore.
It’s the NCAA that might want to hide from big-guns Shalala.
This is a woman who served in Iran as one of the country’s first Peace Corps volunteers. She was appointed by former President Bill Clinton as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, a position she held for eight years, becoming the longest serving HHS Secretary in U.S. history.
And she seems mad. Very mad.
You think Shalala's gonna back down from NCAA president Mark Emmert and his Notice of Allegations?
Puh-lease. Let the arm-wrestling begin.
For two years, Shalala and everyone else at Miami -- including coach Al Golden and three different athletic directors -- have remained quiet about this NCAA investigation. In fact, Shalala hasn’t granted any media interview requests in about two years, according to a school spokesman, and she declined another one by ESPN.com on Wednesday through a spokesperson. Her past two statements, though, have echoed throughout the entire collegiate landscape loud and clear: Miami is ready to wash its hands of this NCAA investigation. Done. Finished. Kaput.
“We deeply regret any violations,” she said, “but we have suffered enough.”
Shalala fired back at the NCAA on Tuesday night, saying that “many of the allegations included in the Notice of Allegations remain unsubstantiated.” She wondered how, after two and a half years of investigations and interviews, the NCAA could not find time to interview former athletic director Paul Dee, who has since passed away.
“How could a supposedly thorough and fair investigation not even include the director of athletics?” she stated.
Miami fans should be cheering for her as loud as they’re cheering for Jim Larranaga right now, because regardless of what’s in that Notice of Allegations, and regardless of whether or not Shalala is right or wrong in her public disdain for the NCAA’s handling of the situation, the university at least now has a clear leader who is willing to fight on its behalf. The only thing fans have been hearing to this point were Nevin Shapiro's claims, and the NCAA's tap dance around its major mess. The NCAA's side of this story is unfortunately tucked away in the Notice of Allegations, which has not been made public, and the NCAA did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Shalala's recent statements.
This time, it's Miami doing the talking, and it sounds like an unprecedented comeback by a university president against the NCAA.
The NCAA has long been a bully, taking its time with investigations that literally last years and punish coaches and players who weren’t even part of the original transgressions. If the NCAA needs to make an example out of Miami, do it with the coaches who were involved, not innocent players like quarterback Stephen Morris, who just wants to graduate and win an ACC title.
But this isn't about whether or not Miami is guilty or innocent, or whether the Canes have paid their price or not. This is about the university finally pushing back.
According to the Associated Press, Miami has been charged with a “lack of institutional control.” On the contrary, look no further than the president’s office to see at least one person in this mess who has finally asserted complete control."
Biased, much, MS. Dinich?
Biased, much MS. Dinich?
Undoubtedly her worst article ever. That was awful, I think I could pick out something wrong with every paragraph. Why on earth should the NCAA be afraid of her? I don't think she understands that the NCAA can wipe the Miami football program off the face of the earth. And how would the NCAA punish the coaches involved? Isn't that just going to inadvertently punish others not involved? She is so stupid. Anything to save her precious Miami.
You smell that?
Smells like feminism. Seems a lot like a "you ain't need no man in yo life gurrrrlll!" kind of article.
I hate her,
I hate her so much...
Run!!! It's the Peace Corps?....
Why does she mention "Peace Corps volunteer" as if that's something to be afraid of???
Last time I checked, the iraniacs still wanted to slit our throats...
If the NCAA should be afraid of Shalalololololol for being a peace corps volunteer than they should never get involved with Mike London. He was a cop!
It's TOB they should really be afraid of. Dude was a marine. Hmm... maybe that's how that hire makes sense: UVA is just assembling an epic butt-kicking team to set the NCAA straight when they come down hard on the Hoos for recruiting violations.
Translation of that second to last paragraph:
"This isn't about being fair, it's about who yells the loudest."
Great work, HD. It's people like you that make me ashamed to be an American. Keep spewing all your girl-power crap and continue to make it so I can't stand to be on ESPN anymore.
The old “why didn’t you ask the dead guy" ploy (AD Paul Dee). Not really thinking it through are you SHALALALALLALALA? Why doesn’t she ask why the NCAA didn’t ask Miami’s old players about what went on there? Oh yeah, they did. “No comment.” The NCAA had to give former Miami players an ultimatum to encourage them to speak up. Why aren’t their old players coming out to stand up for “The U” since they are so innocent? Because they know “The U” is as dirty as her old boss’ intern’s dress. This woman is an ex-politician and as such she is showing herself to be aggressively full of it. I am not impressed.
DONNA SHALALALALALALALALALA
Image searching her is cracking me up: Fiesty AD
Miami deserves sanctions just for that embarrassing photo!
Also, Heather Dinich is ESPN's sick joke played on the world of sports
I'm so confused.
¿por qué no los dos?
We've gone international!!
"los dos"
si, los dos son la verdad, es asi!
NCAA is Outta Control
Ok, so I'm probably going against the grain here, but I think it's time for the NCAA just to say that the U has been punished enough and let them go on their merry ways. Honestly, the recruiting and player violations as what went on at Miami happen EVERYWHERE. It's really a load of horseshit. The problem is that the U let it get outta control and too many people knew about them. Why do you think that over the past few years the NCAA has revamped rules allowing "stipends" and "reimbursements" to be paid to players? Why have they loosened up on the text messages/emails/phone calls? It's really too much to police. Am I saying that CFB players need to be making $5MM a year? No, I'm not. But it's hard to ignore the fact that they are bringing in huge amounts of money that directly impact the school. Just look at this past year and VT. The Stinespring fiasco finally came to a head. Donors were preparing to pull money from the school because, for the first time in nearly 20 years, we weren't a 10 win team. Coach Beamer had to do something. Now take our situation and compare it to Alabama. If we're naive enough to sit back here and think that the players on that team are not getting "perks" for winning a NC in 3 out of 4 years, well, then I've got some Grade A swampland I'd like to sell you.
As for comparing it to the death penalty at Penn State? It's no comparison. I even think the NCAA went way overboard in how PSU was punished. Punish the people involved with criminal charges (which is/has been done so far). And honestly, I think the initial report commissioned investigating Sandusky was flawed. Oh, I fully agree that Sandusky is a shitbag and should have his nuts chopped off. But I believe there were liberties taken with regards to who knew what and when. Much of it is subjective 10 years+ after the fact. I just can't see the allegations/violations at Miami even being on the same page as PSU. What happened at Miami involved consenting adults at a bunch of parties. A few vehicles here and there and some money. At PSU? We all know what happened there. PSU got a 5 year bowl ban. Miami has already served 2 years and some folks are advocating for 2 or 3 more? I just can't see it.
agree and disagree
I agree that the current PSU football players got a raw deal because it wasnt football related, but something needed to be done to make a example. Most of the kids im guessing knew nothing about it, but the NCAA punishes them more than anybody. I would have have been fine with them clearing house of all involved(anything that deals with joe pa) that knew any little detail of the situation, and fining the school more then they did. Come up with a number that punishes the program beyond the 60 million over 5 years they were fined. That hurts, but they will easily make that up over that term.
Now the Miami situation deals everything about football related. I agree that that athletes deserve to see consumption from the money they bring in for the university. Paying recruits to basically to sign the dotted line is an unfair advantage to other universities. If you read the report that came out, it directly points out taking these kids to clubs on visits, showing them the best time about miami night life, throw a lady their way, get payed for playing good, etc.= be a king of miami. not even some of the dolphins players were receiving compensation equal to some of the da U players. so how is a couple of years of self imposed bowl bans equal to what SMU went through when they did the same thing. The NCAA has screwed this up, so i see Miami getting off easy because of their lack of investigation skills and know how. You never know though, because if they don't send a message; what is it telling other programs?
Where I believe we are differing is that I believe this is going on everywhere, not just Miami. At least at FBS schools it is. And yes it's an unfair advantage to some of the other universities. Let's take the money out of the equation. Do you think that Miami or VT is comparable to say, William & Mary? The entire problem with this country is we want it to be an even playing field. And the issue is, no matter what anyone does, it's not. There will always be the have's and have not's. People try to say it's not fair to the smaller schools. But it's really not fair to the players.
Take for example our own Michael Cole. At 19, he'll never play football or any other contact sport again due to an injury he suffered in a VT game. And what does he have to show for it? A scholarship to VT for the remainder of his undergraduate degree. That's all. Just my 2 cents.
i agree that this goes on everywhere just about. Miami just seems to flaunt it a little more than most. they show it in the The U espn 30 for 30 video. I'm just saying make it fair as possible and be consistent with judgement handed down. One person shouldn't receive one punishment and another receive a completely different one because of their status or current circumstances.
this situation will play out in the courts regardless of what punishment is handed unless the NCAA backs down. It is just something nice to complain about.
Me thinketh that the NCAA should hire the Scotland Yard to handle all investigation henceforth. The NCAA proved they are as corrupt as Miami and they also lack instutitional control as evidenced by the firing of the vice president of enforcement, and then resume with their "investigation" in allegation over Miami's program.
Or better yet, the NCAA should just let Yahoo! Sports handle all their invesigation because Yahoo! Sports have all the resources and manpower to pull it off.
Even better, the NCAA should disband itself and allow college sports to fall under the federation of sports run by Vince McMahon and have Ric Flair as the vice president of college sports, y'all. Whoo!
The Swoffie Kiss of Death.
John Swofford approves Shalala's scream.
Here's the thing about Miami's
self-imposed sanctions. It's a fake mea-culpa from a program that's been on the NCAA shit list for thirty years. A couple years of removing yourself from mid-tier bowls is not contrition, it's an attempt to influence casual observers into believing you're actually suffering.
The NCAA is not buying it (nor should they) and Miami will get hammered. Book it.
You may be right...
You have to wonder if da U had been officially "back" and they were legit NCG contenders, if they'd have been so contrite and watch bowl season at home.
The boys at the NCAA home office screwed up big time, and unfortunately left enough room for Sha-la-la to lawyer up in case of major sanctions, which I think means that this won't be finished anytime soon. I think we see major sanctions and the court cases to follow.
Unpopular Opinion Alert
For everyone crucifying Heather Dinich and her article, back off. I stopped reading her blog ages ago because there's hardly anything of substance, but she's right when it comes to Miami's stance against the NCAA. Sure, that particular article is hyperbole to the max like pretty much everything else she writes, but she has a point.
Like many of you, I have a hard time separating my dislike for Miami's fanbase from their program as a whole - however, the NCAA has zero ground to stand on in this case because of how badly their investigators bungled this whole operation. For far too long the NCAA has acted as a moral authority over college athletics, yet at it's core it's an organization revolved around money. They want you to believe that college sports are about the spirit of competition, but if that were really true they would have taken a stiffer stance on problems like this ages ago.
For example: Bill Simmons recently had the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, on his podcast during NBA All-Star Weekend. In their conversation, they spoke about Duncan's work with the NCAA raising the penalties for teams with low graduation rates - for those who don't know, there's now a rule that you must graduate a certain percentage of your players to be eligible for the NCAA Tournament. You know what happened as a result? UConn, the 2011 national champion, was not eligible the following year. The UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT had to tell the NCAA that academics was more important than athletic accolades. Coming from a person who dislikes politics very much, that is absurd.
Getting back to the topic at hand - Miami and those surrounding the program were certainly guilty of violations, and I don't think that even Shalala would argue a lot of them. But given how the NCAA has handled the entire investigation surrounding Miami, I don't blame her one bit for firing back at the NCAA. Things could get very ugly, with possible lawsuits coming against the NCAA for their actions in this case - I'm not sure anyone involved wants that either.