Tennessee charged with rules violations

The NCAA on Friday charged Tennessee with 18 major rules violations involving allegations of providing impermissible cash, gifts and benefits worth about $60,000 to football recruits and their families under former coach

Jeremy Pruitt.

The school has until Oct. 20 to respond to the Level I violations, the most serious by NCAA standards, according to the letter it received from the enforcement staff.

The NCAA notice of allegations says at least a dozen members of Pruitt’s staff were involved in more than 200 individual violations over a twoyear period.

Pruitt and nine others were fired for cause in January 2021 after Tennessee started an internal investigation following a tip on Nov. 13, 2020, and found what the university chancellor called “serious violations of NCAA rules.” The firing negated Pruitt’s $12.6million buyout.