ATLANTA (AP) Georgia Tech’s basketball team was banned from postseason play for the upcoming season and slapped Thursday with four years of probation for major recruiting violations committed by a former assistant coach and an ex-friend of head coach Josh Pastner.
The sanctions handed down by the NCAA also included a reduction in scholarships, limits on recruiting and a fine of $5,000 plus 2% of the program’s budget – a major blow to Pastner’s efforts to rebuild the struggling Atlantic Coast Conference program.
Joel Maturi, the chief hearing officer for the NCAA’s committee on infractions, said the penalties could have been more severe.
”Quite frankly, if you look at the penalties that were prescribed, they are … in most cases at the lower level of level one standards,” Maturi said. ”We’re trying to be as fair and consistent as we can.”
Georgia Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury said in a statement the school is considering a possible appeal.
”While we regret that these violations have occurred and appreciate the NCAA committee on infractions’ work on this case, we are disappointed with the severity of the penalties imposed, some of which will have a direct and unfair impact on current student-athletes,” Stansbury said in a statement. ”We are exploring our options and giving serious consideration on whether to appeal some aspects of the decision.”
Stansbury is expected to further address the ruling later Thursday.
The NCAA said former assistant coach Darryl LaBarrie gave $300 to a highly touted prospect for a visit to an Atlanta strip club and arranged for him to meet with a former Georgia Tech athlete who played for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, including a visit to the player’s home and a free meal at a lounge owned by the player.
The NBA player was not identified, but Jarrett Jack was on the Hawks’ roster in 2016. He never played for Atlanta, which waived him during training camp as he struggled to return from a serious knee injury.
Maturi said the use of a strip club for recruiting purposes was disturbing.
”It goes without saying that we as a committee firmly believe that adult entertainment has no place in college sports, particularly for it to be used in the recruiting process for coaches and others in a position of trust responsible for the well-being of high school students visiting their campus,” Maturi said.
LaBarrie was given a three-year show-cause ban from coaching for failing to cooperate in the investigation. The NCAA said he denied any involvement during his first interview with the enforcement staff and also tried to get the prospect to lie about what happened. LaBarrie later acknowledged that he arranged the illegal benefits, the investigation found.
The committee said another booster, identified previously as Pastner’s former friend Ron Bell, provided two players and a potential transfer athlete with $2,424 in shoes, clothes, meals, transportation and lodging.
The NCAA found that Pastner repeatedly cautioned Bell not to provide any illegal benefits, though the coach allowed him to continue interacting with the program. Bell warned the three players to never tell Pastner about the gifts and benefits, according to the report.
The NCAA report also noted that Pastner reported the violations after they were revealed to him by Bell.
Maturi said Pastner was not found to have ”head coach responsibility” in the violations.
Georgia Tech has permanently cut ties with Bell.
The postseason ban seems largely symbolic. The Yellow Jackets haven’t appeared in the NCAA tournament since 2010 and made their last postseason appearance in 2017, during Pastner’s first season at Georgia Tech. That squad won 21 games and reached the NIT final, but the Yellow Jackets slumped to records of 13-19 and 14-18 the last two years, including a 12-24 mark in the ACC.
The postseason ban also includes the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
The recruiting restrictions for each year of probation include:
– The loss of one scholarship.
– An eight-week ban on unofficial visits and a three-visit reduction from the number of official visits.
– An eight-week ban on recruiting communications.
– A reduction of 19 recruiting-person days from the allowed number.
Some of the allegations were made public during the 2016-17 season, Pastner’s first season at Georgia Tech.
LaBarrie was placed on leave on Nov. 22, 2016 and he resigned on Feb. 7, 2017.
Two former players, Josh Okogie and Tadric Jackson, were suspended for six and three games, respectively, early in the 2016-17 season for accepting benefits. Georgia Tech determined the players received apparel, meals and transportation.
The NCAA ruled that Georgia Tech must also vacate all wins in which ineligible players were used. The school was given 14 days to provide that information to the governing body.
The allegations against Bell led to an exchange of lawsuits between Pastner and Bell and his girlfriend, Jennifer Pendley.
Pastner filed a defamation lawsuit against Bell and Pendley early in 2018, saying the Tuscon-area couple was trying to defame and blackmail him by accusing him of breaking NCAA rules.
The countersuit from Bell and Pendley claimed Pastner sexually assaulted Pendley in February 2016 when he was head coach at Memphis.
Pastner denied the charge last year, saying there was ”zero truth to any of those disgusting, bogus allegations. It’s disgusting.”
The lawsuits were dropped this year.
The NCAA sanctions against the men’s team cap a tumultuous year for both basketball programs at Georgia Tech.
Longtime women’s coach MaChelle Joseph was suspended late last season and then fired after the school said it learned of alleged mistreatment of players and staff, as well as possible NCAA violations. Joseph denied the allegations, saying she was punished for complaining about gender equity issues and was the victim of a double standard since Pastner was still on the job despite his well-documented troubles with the NCAA.
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