The NCAA also determined Brown did not immediately report the violation when he learned of it and then lied to investigators, earning him a lack of head coach control charge.
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The NCAA also found that Brown was told by both Frazier and the administrator that the administrator had completed the online course “that led to the student-athlete obtaining fraudulent academic credit”. “As a result, the former head men’s golf coach, the former compliance director and a former men’s basketball administrative assistant violated NCAA’s unethical conduct rules”, the NCAA said in a statement Tuesday.
Brown, whose previous work at UCLA and Kansas also faced disciplinary measures from the NCAA, reportedly met with the organizing body’s committee of infractions in June.
While quoting Brown in its report as saying, “I don’t know why I lied, ” the NCAA said the coach acknowledged “his failed judgment” during a hearing on the case.
McDowell, who averaged 30 points a game last season, added that he was now still discussing the situation with his inner circle, but stood firm in his commitment for the time being.
In March, the NCAA hit Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim with a nine-game ACC regular-season suspension after an investigation found that the school and longtime coach did not control and monitor its athletic programs. Head coach Larry Brown becomes the latest in a line of head coaches whose credibility will take a hit. Brown said in the news conference just one person in the department (the administrative assistant who helped Frazier with his coursework) was guilty of any violation.
“Now, this might sound so silly, when all these allegations are read, and when (enforcement staff) was basically taking the position I didn’t do the right thing, I can’t argue with that”, Brown said, according to the NCAA.
But the biggest penalty is a postseason ban on a team that was expected to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. His team will not be allowed to play in the postseason, and he will lose nine scholarships over the next three years because of rules violations.
The school said it was studying the report and had 15 days to decide whether to appeal penalties against Brown’s team and the men’s golf program, including scholarship and recruiting reductions. Brown, 75, took over at SMU in 2012 after spending much of his career in the National Basketball Association.
The NCAA announced Tuesday that Southern Methodist University committed multiple rules violations that will impact the school’s basketball program.
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In 1981, UCLA, Brown’s first college stop, had to vacate a Final Four appearance after the Bruins were caught using ineligible players.
