SEC penalizes MSU baseball for organizing charitable event – Jackson Clarion Ledger
STARKVILLE — The Southeastern Conference docked Mississippi State baseball two fall practices for organizing a charitable event in October 2014.
It was one of 16 secondary violations the school reported to the league and the NCAA during the 2014-2015 academic year the Clarion-Ledger learned through an open records request on Monday.
Mississippi State’s football team was responsible for 11 of the violations. Baseball, men’s basketball, men’s golf, women’s volleyball and women’s soccer accounted for the other five.
The most bizarre penalty was handed to the baseball team for publicizing an intrasquad scrimmage in advance.
On Oct. 18, 2014, Mississippi State traveled to Jackson for a promotional activity to visit Blair Batson Children’s Hospital. While in Jackson, MSU practiced and conducted a free intrasquad scrimmage to allow the hospital’s staff to collect donations for their fundraising efforts. The event was approved and publicized in an effort to generate interest in the local community for Blair Batson Children’s Hospital.
The event raised nearly $1,900.
It also raised red flags within the NCAA rule book. Mississippi State committed two secondary violations during the event.
NCAA Bylaw 17.1.7.6.4, states, “Preseason off-campus intrasquad games shall be prohibited in all sports.”
Bylaw 17.1.7.6.5 continues, “An institution may publicize off-campus preseason practice activities that are conducted at a single designated site, provided the institution normally conducts preseason practice activities at that particular site.”
Due to the nature of the violations, MSU approached the situation with a no-harm, no-foul mentality. The school imposed a penalty of a “thorough review of all pertinent legislation,” according to the case report.
The SEC wasn’t satisfied. The conference added additional penalties which included a reduction of Mississippi State’s practice days by two for the fall of 2015.
The SEC accepted 14 of Mississippi State’s 16 self-imposed penalties. The only other violation in which the league demanded more action involved a football coach calling a prospect twice in a week after the limit had been reached by another coach. The SEC prohibited the entire coaching staff from having telephone contact with the prospect for 14 days.
It was one of 11 secondary violations committed by the football team involving illegal telephone calls.
The NCAA and SEC had no issue with another Mississippi State athlete contributing to charity.
A volleyball player (name redacted) attended five meals during a prospect’s recruiting visit during the weekend of Feb. 6-8. The student-athlete was not serving as the host student but still received five meals totaling $65.97.
In breaking NCAA Bylaw 11.1.1.1., the athlete was deemed ineligible until she repaid the $65.97 to a charity of her choice.
All 16 violations are listed below.
Submitted: 8/19/14
Sport: Women’s Soccer
Violation type: Athletically related activities
Summary: Women’s soccer players participated in an institutional camp while enrolled in summer school on aid as incoming freshmen.
Additional facts: A total of nine student-athletes participated illegally. The coach thought it was permissible since they had not started classes for the regular academic year.
Institutional Action: The student-athletes were assessed a 2-for-1 penalty by reducing their countable hours of activities. Three coaches were sent a letter of admonishment.
Submitted: 9/26/14
Sport: Football
Violation type: Telephone calls
Summary: Two phone calls were placed to a perspective student-athlete (PSA) on June 23 and 24.
Additional facts: Call on June 23 lasted three minutes. Call on June 24 lasted a minute. The violator (name redacted) said he did not call and thought his sons may have accidentally called the number.
Institutional Action: The coach was reminded of his obligation by NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.
Submitted: 9/26/14
Sport: Football
Violation type: Telephone calls
Summary: A football coach placed a call to a junior prospective student-athlete on Feb. 13, 2014.
Additional facts: The prospective student-athlete called the coach on Feb. 13. The coach later called the player accidentally while scrolling through his recent calls. Once he realized the number had been dialed, he hung up. The athlete tried to call the coach back. The coach didn’t answer. There was no communication beyond that point.
Institutional action: None.
Submitted: 9/26/14
Sport: Football
Violation type: Telephone calls
Summary: Multiple calls placed to a junior prospective student-athlete during the 2014 Spring Evaluation period.
Additional facts: A coach called and spoke with a junior PSA for five minutes. He didn’t log the call immediately after. Twenty minutes later another coach called the athlete without the knowledge of the first call.
Institutional action: No phone calls to the PSA for 14 days beginning Sept. 1, 2014. Coaches were reminded of their obligation under NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.1. Three coaches were also given letters of admonishment.
Submitted: 9/26/14
Sport: Football
Violation type: Telephone calls
Summary: Multiple calls placed in a one-week period.
Additional facts: A coach placed calls two PSAs after countable calls had been made to each of those prospects earlier in the week by a different coach.
Institutional action: The coach was given a letter of admonishment and was prohibited from calling any PSA for 14 days beginning on Sept. 2, 2014.
Additional action: The SEC prohibited the entire coaching staff from having telephone contact with the PSA for 14 days.
Submitted: 9/30/14
Sport: Football
Violation type: Telephone calls
Summary: Phone calls were made prior to the permissible time period to a PSA by a coach.
Additional facts: A coach accidentally made two calls to a PSA on Sept. 27. The PSA attempted to call back, but the coach did not answer.
Institutional action: Prohibited entire coaching staff from placing any phone calls to the PSA for 60 days beginning Sept. 2, 2014. One coach was given a reminder of his obligation under NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.1. Another received a letter of admonishment.
Submitted: 9/30/14
Sport: Football
Violation type: Telephone calls
Summary: A coach placed a phone call to junior PSA on Sept. 9, 2013
Additional facts: A coach took part in two calls to a junior PSA. The first lasted a minute. He then received an incoming call that lasted approximately seven minutes.
Institutional action: The entire coaching staff was prohibited from placing any calls to the PSA for 60 days beginning on Sept. 1, 2014. The coach was given a reminder of his obligation under NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.1.
Submitted: 9/30/14
Sport: Football
Violation type: Telephone calls
Summary: An accidental phone call was made to a junior PSA.
Additional facts: A coach placed an accidental call on March 31, 2014. The call was disconnected before it was connected and there were no other calls associated with the prospect.
Institutional action: The entire coaching staff was prohibited from placing any calls to the PSA for 60 days beginning on Sept. 1, 2014. The coach was given a reminder of his obligation under NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.1 and a letter of admonishment.
Submitted: 9/30/14
Sport: Football
Violation type: Telephone calls
Summary: Coach placed a phone call to a junior PSA in July 2014.
Additional facts: A coach placed a one-minute phone call to a number connected to a junior at Starkville High School on July 28, 2014. The following day the coach logged a nine minute incoming call from the same number. The coach states he did not know who the number belonged to at the time. He said he had several missed calls from the number. He noticed the number shared the same area code as all the athletic department numbers so he dialed it. When he realized it wasn’t an institutional staff member he immediately hung up. The PSA called back the next day. The coach informed him of the phone call rules and gave him the coach’s number that would be recruiting him.
Institutional actions: Prohibited the entire coaching staff from placing calls to the PSA for 60 days beginning on April 15, 2015 with Spring 2015 evaluation period and concluding after Sept. 16, 2015. The coach was given a reminder of his obligation under NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.1 and a letter of admonishment.
Submitted: 9/30/14
Sport: Football
Violation type: Telephone calls
Summary: Coach placed a phone call to junior prospect in July 2014
Additional facts: Part II of violation listed above. On July 29 a coach logged a one-minute outgoing call to a number connected with a junior PSA at Starkville High School. There as an incoming call immediately after that was logged as a two-minute call from the same number. The coach stated he didn’t know at the time who the number belong to. He didn’t intentionally place the call and at no time spoke with anyone. He said he had several missed calls from the number. Since it contained a local area code, like all institutional staff members, he tried the number. When he realized it wasn’t a number belonging to a staff member, he hung up.
Institutional actions: Prohibited the entire coaching staff from placing calls to the PSA for 60 days beginning on April 15, 2015 with Spring 2015 evaluation period and concluding after Sept. 16, 2015. The coach was given a reminder of his obligation under NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.1 and a letter of admonishment.
Submitted: 11/12/14
Sport: Men’s basketball
Violation type: Athletically related activities
Summary: A returning player withdrew from summer classes on June 20, 2014 but continued to participate in required activities from June 23-July1 without meeting a summer access exemption.
Additional facts: The total participation hours were 10.25 hours.
Institutional action: The player’s activity hours were reduced by two for the following 10 weeks and half of the 11th week beginning on July 7, 2014. MSU instituted a notification system where the registrar’s office and the compliance staff will be notified via email once a student-athlete initiates the online withdrawal process.
Submitted: 12/15/14
Sport: Baseball
Violation type: Athletically related activities
Summary: The baseball team held an off-campus intrasquad scrimmage that was publicized in advance.
Additional facts: On Oct. 18, 2014, Mississippi State traveled to Jackson for a promotional activity to visit Blair Batson Children’s Hospital. While in Jackson, MSU practiced and conducted a free intrasquad scrimmage to allow the hospital’s staff to collect donations for their fundraising efforts. They raised nearly $1,900. The event was approved and publicized in an effort to generate interest in the local community for Blair Batson Children’s Hospital. MSU misapplied the legislation by allowing the scrimmage to occur.
Institutional action: A thorough review of all pertinent legislation will be conducted.
Conference action: The SEC required MSU to reduce the number of practice days for the fall of 2015 by two.
Submitted: 12/15/14
Sport: Football
Violation type: Telephone calls
Summary: Multiple calls in a week to a PSA.
Additional facts: One coach missed a called from a PSA. He called back without checking that another coach had called the PSA earlier in the week.
Institutional action: The entire coaching staff was prohibited from placing any phone calls to the PSA for two weeks beginning on Nov. 10, 2014. The coach was given a reminder of his obligation under NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.1 and a letter of admonishment.
Submitted: 2/25/15
Sport: Men’s Golf
Violation type: Skill instruction athletically related activities
Summary: The men’s golf team was required to practice on an institutional holiday and participated in 12 hours of skill related instruction during the same week, outside the playing season.
Additional facts: MSU’s golf team practiced four hours on Jan. 19 – Martin Luther King Day. They practiced eight additional hours, resulting in 12 total hours – two over the maximum.
Institutional action: The men’s golf team was required to take two days off of all countable activities for two consecutive weeks beginning Feb. 15, 2015. They will were also required to reduce their countable hours by two for 10 straight weeks, starting on Feb. 15. The coach was given a reminder of his obligation under NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.2 and a letter of admonishment.
Submitted: 2/25/15
Sport: Football
Violation type: Telephone calls
Summary: Two calls were placed to a PSA during Dec. 15-20, 2014.
Additional facts: Due to the departure of an assistant coach who was a lead recruiting for a PSA, two coaches called a PSA to check up on him.
Institutional action: The entire coaching staff was prohibited from placing any phone calls to the PSA for two weeks beginning Dec. 21, 2014. The coach was given a reminder of his obligation under NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.1 and a letter of admonishment.
Submitted: 3/30/15
Sport: Women’s Volleyball
Violation type: Benefits, gifts and services
Summary: A current student-athlete was allowed to eat five meals during an official visit weekend while not serving as the student host.
Additional facts: During the weekend of Feb. 6-8, the volleyball staff hosted a PSA on an official visit. The five meals amounted to $65.97.
Institutional action: The student-athlete was declared ineligible until she repaid the $65.97 to a charity of her choice. The coach was given a reminder of his obligation under NCAA bylaw 11.1.1.1 and a letter of admonishment. The new volleyball staff received a review of the NCAA rules pertaining to official visits.
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