Georgia Southern football penalized by NCAA

Georgia Southern’s football team received several penalties on Thursday after the NCAA announced that an investigation found two former members of the athletic staff provided impermissible academic assistance to three players.

The penalties include:

• Public reprimand and censure;
• Two years of probation for the university, starting today (July 7);
• Three years show-cause order for the former assistant compliance director and former assistant director of student athlete-services, starting today (July 7);
• A vacation of records in which the three players participated while ineligible;
• A reduction of two scholarships in 2016-17;
• A reduction in the number of official visits by 10 percent during 2016-17 from its four-year average;
• A reduction in the number of football evaluations this year by 10 percent from its four-year average;
• A $5,000 fine plus 1 percent of the football team's operating budget, which was self-imposed by the university;

According to the NCAA, the former assistant compliance director gave a student a flash drive containing her previous work for a course in which the athlete was enrolled in the fall of 2013.

The athlete submitted the director’s work as his. After a professor figured out the cheating, the director and the athlete conspired to draft responses that blamed the athlete. The athlete later confessed to the flash drive and instructions to lie.

The director also failed to cooperate with the NCAA’s investigation.

In the second instance, which occurred a year later, a former assistant director of student-athlete services violated the NCAA’s ethical conduct rules when she produced and turned in 10 extra credit assignments on behalf of two football players. She did so without the player’s knowledge, according to the NCAA.