The NCAA found that over a period of six years, from 2010 - 2017, that FAMU improperly certified 93 student-athletes on 162 occurrences in 12 sports. This is the university’s fifth infractions case and third case involving certification issues in the past 19 years. FAMU’s has previously had cases in 2015, 2006, 1990 and 1976.
The university certified student-athletes as eligible when they failed to fulfill required credit hours, did not complete required percentages of their degree by designated times, did not meet minimum GPA requirements and/or failed to meet transfer requirements or exceptions.
The case was pretty much decided through a summary disposition process where the NCAA and FAMU negotiated the penalties. FAMU, however, objected to the financial penalty of 3% of the total athletic budget, and that portion had was taken up during an expedited penalty hearing of the Committee on Infractions where the penalty was upheld.
The “institutional control failures began in 1998 and largely spanned through 2017,” the NCAA report said.
As a result of the most recent infractions, the FAMU Department of Athletics will be on probation for five years through November 2024. In addition, 12 of the department’s 16 teams will have to vacate the records of any affected teams that had ineligible student-athletes compete for them during the 2010-2017 seasons.
The full sanctions are below:
· Five years of years of probation.
· A self-imposed 2019-20 postseason ban for football, baseball, men’s basketball, men’s track and field, women’s basketball and volleyball.
· A vacation of records in which student-athletes competed while ineligible. The university must provide a written report containing the contests impacted to the NCAA media coordination and statistics staff within 45 days of the public decision release.
· A reduction in scholarships by 10% for each of the following programs during the 2019-20 academic year: baseball, men’s basketball, men’s track and field, women’s basketball and volleyball.
· A reduction in scholarships by 10% for the football program during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years.
· Recruiting restrictions for all sport programs during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years.
· A $5,000 fine plus 3% of the total athletics budget.