According to the NCAA’s report, Southern’s assistant compliance director gave a football player a flash drive. The player pulled an assignment from the flash drive and submitted it as his own work. When the professor discovered the work, the student-athlete and former assistant compliance director worked together to draft responses that stated the student-athlete was exclusively accountable. Because the former assistant compliance director who provided the flash drive to the football player was not helpful in the investigation, the NCAA said it did not know her intent and didn’t charge academic misconduct.
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A press release sent by the NCAA Wednesday afternoon detailed an investigation into Georgia Southern football that found several impermissible benefits relating to academics. Therefore, and unbeknownst to the student-athletes, the former assistant director of student-athlete services drafted and submitted five extra credit assignments on behalf of each student-athlete. “She obtained the student-athletes’ user names and passwords and without their knowledge completed and submitted the papers”.
The NCAA Committee on Infractions announced that Georgia Southern University will be placed on two-year probation for academic violations.
Georgia Southern has only been an FBS member since 2014, but made an immediate splash by winning nine games in each of its two seasons in the NCAA’s highest level. Coach Willie Fritz left after the season to go to Tulane and the school hired Tyson Summers to take his place.
A vacation of records in which student-athletes participated while ineligible.
The violation from the compliance director happened in the fall of 2013 while the second violation happened during 2014.
Because of these violations, the Eagles’ program were given two years probation by the NCAA.
Both former staff members received three-year show-cause orders, meaning that if either of them become employed by another NCAA member institution, that institution must appear before a panel and show cause as to why restrictions on athletics should not apply.
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“We’re going to put this behind us and we’re going to look forward for the future and the football team for this year and I think that’s going to be the focus this year”, Miller said.
