Rutgers Faces 7 Possible Violations, Other Serious Allegations Involving Athletics, Officials Say

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The NCAA has issued a "Notice of Allegations" to Rutgers University, and there are possibly seven violations stemming from the allegations that claim some members of the athletics department, including the football program, may not have operated in full compliance with NCAA standards, according to the university and an investigative report.

In a Tuesday letter to the Rutgers community, President Robert Barchi acknowledged the possible violations and allegations, saying they stemmed from an investigation that began more than a year-and-a-half ago. Some of the allegations in the violations include following improper recruiting practices and violating drug testing policy. It is also alleged that former football coach Kyle Flood directly contacted a professor to seek special considerations for a student-athlete.

The allegations involved some members of the Department of Athletics who "had not been operating in full compliance with NCAA and university standards."

"These allegations by the NCAA enforcement staff are primarily focused on issues that have been well reported and discussed throughout our community," he said. "The allegations are the result of a lengthy joint investigation with the NCAA enforcement staff. As you know, we have already taken significant remedial actions concerning many of these matters."

According to a report from NJ Advance Media, the case has reportedly been given a Level II designation in the NCAA's four-level structure. At least some of the accusations involve the school's football program under Flood, who was fired after the 2015 season.

Sources told NJ Advance Media that the university expected to be charged with a "failure to monitor" for part of its athletic program but the school feels confident in the steps it has taken while the NCAA was conducting its investigation, with the hope that the football program will avoid getting banned from bowl opportunities and escape losses in scholarships.

Barchi, in his letter, wrote the NCAA began an inquiry into our athletics program. During the course of the review process, potential NCAA rules violations "came to light involving the former head football coach and his communication with a member of the faculty on behalf of one of his student-athletes."

Other possible violations were also identified in the prospective student-athlete host/hostess program used in the department of athletics and inconsistencies in the administration of the department's drug testing procedures and policies, he said.

The university retained outside counsel for the investigation and has cooperated fully with the NCAA enforcement staff as the investigative process continued, he said.

After more than 18 months of inquiry and cooperation, the NCAA issued the NOA to the university, alleging seven violations of NCAA and university rules by two former football staff members, the Department’s host/hostess program and a staff member with oversight of the drug testing program, and a charge to the university of a “failure to monitor” for part of its athletics program.

The alleged violations of NCAA bylaws include:

• Flood is alleged to have provided a former student-athlete with an impermissible extra benefit by directly contacting a professor seeking special consideration for the student-athlete in an academic course relating to the 2014-2015 academic year. In addition, he is charged with failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance in the football program, violating the principles of NCAA head coach responsibility legislation. Both allegations are deemed Level II by the NCAA.
• A former assistant football coach is alleged to have had improper off-campus recruiting contact with a prospective student athlete in 2014 (Level III) and the NCAA has also charged the coach with unethical conduct for providing false or misleading information to the NCAA and the institution during the investigation. (Level II)
• The NCAA has alleged that between the 2011-12 academic year and the fall of 2015, the Rutgers football host/hostess program, staffed by student workers, was not properly operated and supervised as required by NCAA legislation; that two student hostesses had impermissible off-campus contact and electronic correspondence with prospective student athletes; and that the former football director of recruiting impermissibly publicized the recruitment of prospective student-athletes. (Level II)
• It is alleged that between September 2011 and the fall of 2015, the university and the director of sports medicine employed practices and procedures that violated the institution’s drug-testing policy by: failing to notify the director of athletics of positive drug tests; along with the former head football coach, failing to implement prescribed corrective and disciplinary actions and penalties; and failing to identify select drug tests as positive in accordance with University policy. (Level II)
• Because of the scope of these alleged violations, the NCAA has also alleged that between 2011 and 2016, the university failed to monitor its football program regarding its host/hostess program and drug-testing program. (Level II)

The university has begun the process of reviewing the allegations in the NOA as well as assessing the level of severity assigned to each allegation by the NCAA enforcement staff, Barchi said.

The university also says it will comply with the NCAA process and submit its full response within 90 days followed by a hearing before the NCAA Committee on Infractions. The committee will determine whether violations occurred, will consider aggravating and mitigating factors, and will ultimately decide what penalties should be assessed. The entire process may not be concluded until well into 2017.

"The university has cooperated fully with the investigation since the start, including both the discovery and self-reporting of several of these violations," Barchi wrote. "The university has also taken action against employees who violated the basic principles on which Rutgers stands and enacted measures to prevent future violations of NCAA bylaws including."

Those actions include:

• Flood and one of his assistants involved in these alleged violations are no longer with the university, and the two student host assistants have been terminated from their positions;
• Prior to his termination, after an initial review in the fall of 2015, the university suspended Flood for three games and imposed a $50,000 fine.
• In August 2016, Rutgers instituted a comprehensive new drug testing policy as well as overhauled oversight and reporting lines of the drug test program and, in October 2016, a new chief medical officer assumed oversight of the drug test program;
• In November 2015, Pat Hobbs was hired as the new director of athletics after serving for many years as dean of the Seton Hall College of Law and after serving as ombudsman to the Office of the Governor to oversee compliance and ethics training and as chairman of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation.

Photo credit: Tom Sulcer/Wikimedia Commons