NCAA Places TCU on Probation After Finding Students Were Paid for Work They Did Not Do
TCU has received some unwelcomed news before Christmas. The NCAA has fined TCU nearly $50,000 and placed the school on probation for one year after it ruled the university had a number of student-athletes being paid for work they didn’t do.
The decision was announced on Friday from the NCAA, ruling that 33 TCU student-athletes in three sports were paid for work they did not actually do as summer employees on campus. Those athletes were on the football team, men’s basketball team and women’s basketball team.
The payments were for more than $20,000 over a four-year span as the committee ruled that these athletes, “received compensation beyond the hours they worked after they did not clock out after leaving the campus job site.“
Here was the full rundown of penalties handed to TCU:
- One year of probation.
- A $47,148 fine. This amount includes the self-imposed penalty of $19,796, plus an additional 10% of the value of the one unit the university received for participation in the first round of the 2018 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.
- A one-year show-cause order for former swimming coach Sam Busch, who exceeded the maximum number coaches on staff allowed and exceeded limits in practice time. During this one-year show-cause period, any NCAA member school employing him must show cause why he should not have restrictions on athletically related activity.
TCU chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. said in a statement, “I’m proud of TCU’s culture of compliance that led to these issues being identified, promptly disclosed, and corrected. I also am thankful for our team who successfully collaborated to ensure that we not only resolved this issue but continue to send a message of strong ethical leadership at TCU.”
Meantime, AD Jeremiah Donati said, “We are very pleased with today’s decision from the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions, classifying our case as a Level 2-mitigated matter, the least serious considered by the committee. We self-detected and self-reported the infractions that occurred and subsequently self-imposed appropriate penalties. The committee accepted our finding that the employment matter was an operational issue with no athletics involvement.“
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