The Louisville basketball program must vacate its 2013 men’s national championship, the NCAA announced on Tuesday after the university’s appeal was denied.
According to the NCAA release, “the panel found that a former Louisville director of basketball operations acted unethically when he committed serious violations by arranging striptease dances and sex acts for prospects, student-athletes, and others, and did not cooperate with the investigation.”
It goes on to add:
In its appeal, the university argued the vacation of records and financial penalty should be set aside because they are excessive. The university contended that the penalties were based on participation of student-athletes who were not culpable in the violations, received negligible benefits as a result, and for whom reinstatement would likely have been granted.The Committee on Infractions responded to the appeal by stating the penalties were appropriate due to the serious, intentional and numerous violations orchestrated by a university staff member for nearly four years. It further argued that student-athletes do not have to be culpable for the vacation penalty to be appropriate, and because the serious nature of the violations resulted in the participation of ineligible student-athletes, the vacation of records penalty was appropriate.
#Louisville appeal denied. Program must vacate its 2013 men’s hoops title in the wake of its scandal.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 20, 2018
The appeal committee believed that the violations directly involved university staff members, hence their decision to keep the sanctions in place.
All records from the 2011-12 through 2014-15 season must be vacated.
According to the NCAA release, Jack Friedenthal, professor emeritus at George Washington; W. Anthony Jenkins, attorney in private practice; Patti Ohlendorf, vice president for legal affairs at Texas; and David Williams, committee chair and vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletics director at Vanderbilt were the sitting members of the appeal committee.