UConn men’s basketball under investigation by NCAA
STORRS, Conn. — The University of Connecticut is the target of an NCAA investigation into its men’s basketball program.
University president Susan Herbst said in a statement Friday the school will cooperate in a “thorough and transparent manner reflective of the model athletic and academic institution we continually strive to be.”
The university didn’t specify the allegations and said it would have no further comment, but would “address and respond appropriately as the inquiry moves forward.”
Hearst Connecticut Media, which first reported the investigation, cited unidentified sources saying the inquiry was related to recruiting.
The school said it had begun an NCAA-mandated internal review of the men’s basketball program this fall amid an FBI investigation into alleged corruption in college basketball. The focus of the federal probe has been on arrangements made between assistant coaches, shoe companies and financial advisers.
As part of that review, the school retained a law firm — Lightfoot, Franklin and White — that specializes in athletics compliance. It said that firm also will assist in responding to this NCAA inquiry. The school didn’t say whether the NCAA investigation was related to issues investigated by the FBI.
This is not the first time UConn has been under NCAA scrutiny.
Then-coach Jim Calhoun was forced to sit out three games during the 2011-12 basketball season and the school was put on three years of probation after the NCAA found violations dating to 2008. Those included improper phone calls, text messages and inducements provided by an agent who was a former team manager.
The school didn’t receive a postseason ban, but then failed to meet NCAA academic qualifications for the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The Huskies won their fourth NCAA championship the next season.
Kevin Ollie is in his sixth season as coach and in the second year of a five-year, $17.9 million contract that can be voided for “just cause,” including NCAA violations.
Neither Ollie nor anyone else in the program mentioned the investigation after the Huskies’ 63-52 victory over SMU on Thursday night. They are 11-9 this season after going 16-17 a year ago, the team’s first losing season in 30 years.
Miles Bridges scored 24 points, and the No. 6 Spartans beat the Badgers in East Lansing, Mich., less than 12 hours after athletic director Mark Hollis announced his retirement amid the outcry over how Michigan State handled allegations against former physician Larry Nassar.
The Spartans (19-3, 7-2 Big Ten) have won three straight after losing two of the previous three games.
The court was surrounded by a sea of teal T-shirts worn by students hoping to raise awareness about sexual violence.
Christian Wilson had 25 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals, and the Saints edged the Celts in San Antonio.
Paris Marquez and Sam Flores scored 15 points each to lead St. Thomas (10-9, 3-7 Red River Athletic Conference), which lost for the fourth time in five games.
Southern California fired associate head coach Tony Bland in the wake of his arrest in the college basketball bribery and corruption case.
A school spokesman confirmed Bland’s firing but offered no other details. He had been on administrative leave since his arrest in September. He was on USC’s staff for 4½ years.
Bland was one of 10 people arrested in the case. Three other assistants — Chuck Person of Auburn, Book Richardson of Arizona and Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State — were also fired as part of the FBI probe, which revealed a pay-for-play scandal where schools would funnel money through shoe companies to a player in exchange for their commitment.
Bland pleaded not guilty in November to four charges relating to bribery and wire fraud.
USC guard D’Anthony Melton was ruled ineligible this season because of the case involving Bland, who was accused by prosecutors of facilitating payments to Melton.
Arkansas signed men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson to a two-year extension through the 2021-22 season. Anderson, in his seventh season at Arkansas, has led the Razorbacks to the NCAA Tournament twice in the last three seasons, and his new extension is for $2.55 million annually. … Western Kentucky raised coach Rick Stansbury’s base annual salary to $650,000, which athletic director Todd Stewart says places him second among Conference USA coaches. Stewart said the $150,000 salary raise will be privately funded.