(STATS) – Liberty head coach Turner Gill and assistant Ron Brown each received one-game suspensions for a secondary NCAA recruiting violation, the university announced Friday.
Brown will sit out Saturday’s home game against Monmouth, while Gill will serve his penalty at a yet-to-determined date this season.
The Level III violation occurred when Brown texted a scholarship offer to a prospective recruit prior to the Aug. 1 permissible date of his senior year in high school. NCAA rules regard a text as the same as a written offer.
Gill reported the infraction to Liberty’s athletic department after Brown informed him of the incident.
“Our football staff makes every effort to live within the guidelines and policies established by the NCAA in all areas of our program,” Gill said in a statement released by Liberty. “I knew it was necessary to self-report this violation once it was brought to my attention. I take full responsibility for the consequences that go along with this violation and will make sure it does not happen again.”
NCAA rules state both the head coach and identified assistant must serve one-game suspensions for this type of violation.
“We take compliance with NCAA rules and regulations seriously, and have followed the directives mandated for this sort of violation,” Liberty director of athletics Jeff Barber said. “A culture of compliance has been clearly established by our programs which is proven by the self-reporting of NCAA violations such as this one.”
Liberty (3-3, 1-0 Big South) brings a two-game winning streak into Saturday’s Big South matchup and is coming off a 36-21 victory at Kennesaw State in last week’s conference opener.
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