The NCAA has hit Oregon with a notice of allegations in men’s basketball, women’s basketball and track and field.
Oregon self-reported three violations in men’s basketball, two in women’s basketball and one in both track and field and football.
The school will have 90 days to respond to the allegations.
Here are details:
Oregon basketball coaches Kelly Graves and Dana Altman are both listed as responsible for the violations in their programs. Track and field coach Robert Johnson is not mentioned in the case that featured a professor changing a failing grade to allow an athlete to pass a class and continue competing in the sport.
“Coach Altman and coach Graves are committed to compliance with NCAA bylaws, they have the highest ethical standards on and off the court, and each acknowledges the infractions that took place within their programs,” Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said in a statement. “In both cases, our monitoring program identified the issues and they were reported to the NCAA. We have addressed the matters with the responsible employees and enhanced compliance training within the department. These cases do not merit the level of charges against the coaches sought by the NCAA.”
Altman and Graves were both alleged to have exceeded the NCAA limit of four coaches by allowing other staff members to participate in team activities during practice. The allegations against the men’s basketball team date back to 2013 while the women’s program committed similar violations beginning in December 2016.
The men’s basketball team allowed “a noncoaching staff member” to serve as a referee between 10 and 20 times per year. From May 22 to Aug. 19. 2016, the staff member “provided technical or tactical basketball instruction to, participated with/or observed men’s basketball student-athletes … during nonorganized voluntary athletically related activities” at least 64 times.
Earlier this year, a staff member watched an Oregon player running at a local high school track on three occasions. From December 2016 until May, an assistant strength and conditioning coach participated in “on-court” activities with the Ducks.
UK fans will remember that 2018 big man Bol Bol recently chose Oregon over Kentucky.
