Update on NCAA Allegations

It appears that there has been some movement on a resolution to the Notice of Allegations that Rutgers received from the NCAA in December of last year. Last Friday, July 14, representatives from Rutgers Athletics met with the NCAA Committee on Infractions. According to reports from NJ Advance Media, the Rutgers contingent included President Robert Barchi, AD Pat Hobbs, Head Coach Chris Ash, Senior Vice President and lead counsel John Hoffman, and chief compliance officer Paul Perrier. Also former head coach Kyle Flood, former assistant Darrell Wilson, and former director of sports medicine Robert Monaco (and/or their representatives) were reportedly in attendance.

The gist of the meeting was that those appearing before the panel had the opportunity to ask questions and answer to, or for, each allegation. The next step is that in 8-12 weeks the Committee on Infractions will issue a final report and announce any potential sanctions on Rutgers football or the athletic department in addition to the self-imposed sanctions that Rutgers has already implemented.

The following articles written by Keith Sargeant and Ryan Dunleavy of NJ Advance explain the history of the allegations, the committee process, and the steps Rutgers has already taken to mitigate potential punishment.

http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2017/07/sources_rutgers_officials_ex-coaches_summoned_to_n.html

http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2017/07/whats_next_in_resolving_rutgers_ncaa_allegations_c.html#incart_river_index

From my perspective, what I've found interesting is that Rutgers has cooperated with the NCAA investigation from the outset (reporting at least one of the violations), as opposed to the University of North Carolina, which seems to have attempted to stymie the NCAA investigation into its improprieties.

Hopefully, the actions taken by Rutgers such as the cooperation, midseason suspension of the football coach, firing of the football staff and former athletic director, revamping of the drug testing program, and self-imposed sanctions will be enough to thwart any more serious consequences.

Furthermore, it could be that one day fairly soon we'll see the sanctions as having been a blessing in that they resulted in the hiring of Ash and Hobbs.