Jays take a hit in NCAA Bribery Scandal

NCAA cites leniency for 1st time offender

Jays take a hit on the 3 year old NCAA Bribery case. Today the NCAA Div 1 Committee on Infractions announced sanctions against Creighton University and ex-coach Preston Murphy.

Murphy was accused of accepting money to influence players to sign with agents. This is a Level I-aggravated violation of NCAA rules. Murphy reportedly returned the money, with a polygraph test supporting this notion.

AD Bruce Rasmussen incurred a Level II-mitigated penalty for his handling of the investigation.

Coach Murphy initially lied during an CU internal investigation. He later confided in HC McDermott about the incident. McDermott reported to the AD, who held off on reporting it until the onset of a Federal Investigation into the matter.

The committee stated that Murphy was guilty from the moment he entered the meeting.

But the committee said Murphy had already violated NCAA rules when he walked into the hotel room that day.
“For the panel, we focused on the conduct, and for the panel, the conduct was going into that meeting, knowing what he knew about the meeting, knowing who was going to be at the meeting and then accepting the payment for $6,000 and putting it in his pocket,” Sankar Suryanarayan, university counsel at Princeton and a committee on infractions member, said during a Tuesday conference call. “For us, that was the action that triggered the violation.”
But the committee, he said, considered Creighton’s athletic director’s track record when it issued a Level II-mitigated penalty against him.
“We talked about the serious nature of that and also, it needs to be taken into context,” he said. “What we arrived at was, based on what he did — and we also looked at his reputation and experience, involving him and Creighton, the lack of really any infractions history — we found that what the athletic director did was unreasonable.”

Infractions;

Murphy – Accepting improper payments, a Level I-aggravated violation.

Rasmussen incurred a Level II-mitigated penalty for his handling of the investigation.

“It is noteworthy that within the public infractions report, the Committee stated, ‘that in the 100-year history of Creighton’s participation in Division I athletics, this is Creighton’s first Level I, Level II or major infractions case. As it relates to institutions, the absence of an infractions history is rare. As such, the panel affords significant weight to this (mitigating) factor.’ There is no postseason penalty imposed on the men’s basketball program, and none of our current or future student-athletes will be impacted,”

Penalties:

Murphy – A two-year Show-Cause penalty.

Rasmussen- Mitigated penalty for his handling of the investigation.

Creighton –

Two-years Probation

1% Reduction of Basketball Budget + a $5,000 fine

Loss of 1 Scholarship x 2 years 2021-22 & 2022-23 (self-imposed by university)

A reduction of men’s basketball official visits by six during the 2021-22/2022-23 rolling two-year period (self-imposed by the university)

A reduction in the number of men’s basketball recruiting person days by 10% from the previous four-year average for the two-year probationary period (self-imposed by the university)

The university will prohibit complimentary admission to home games for all prospects and coaches in November 2021 (self-imposed by the university)

“We have used this as an opportunity for self-reflection, assessment, and improvement. As such, the Department of Athletics has enacted a series of reforms to policies and procedures, including an even more robust education and monitoring program, to ensure that our programs continue to adhere to the NCAA’s high ethical standards. Indeed, these actions, and the University’s willingness to cooperate on this matter, have been applauded by the NCAA enforcement staff. We are eager to move forward.”
So 3 years later, it is finally over. Jays take a hit, but no program killing measures included. Whew.

Movin’ on.