UMass stripped of victories

The NCAA is stripping Massachusetts of victories in men’s basketball and women’s tennis for overpaying 12 athletes about $9,100 in financial aid over three years, prompting criticism of the penalty from the Atlantic 10 Conference commissioner. The NCAA announced Friday the Committee on Infractions had imposed a two-year probation on UMass that will end October 2022 in addition to vacating results involving athletes who received what were determined to be a total of 13 inappropriate payments. The school will also pay a

self-imposed fine of $5,000. UMass plans to appeal the committee’s decision to vacate results from 2014-17 that include 59 basketball wins and an Atlantic 10 Conference championship in women’s tennis. A-10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade and UMass Athletic Director Ryan Bamford both took issue with the vacating penalty for what the COI conceded was a “misunderstanding,” according to the NCAA’s news release. McGlade said the decision was “unfortunate.”