NCAA Penalty Notice
02/12/19 | General
On December 5, 2018, the NCAA found the University of Oregon responsible for self-reported Level II violations in its men's and women's basketball, women's track and football programs. After reporting the suspected infractions the UO engaged in a cooperative investigation with the enforcement staff into each violation.
No recruiting, scholarship, regular season or post-season competition penalties were imposed as a result of this decision. The list of penalties for men' and women's basketball and track and field are below. No penalties were imposed on football.
In the men's and women's basketball programs, the NCAA determined that sport-specific staff members (who were not coaches) engaged in prohibited coaching activities from the summer of 2016 through the winter of 2017. In addition, the NCAA found that the head coaches for both programs failed to adequately monitor their staffs as required by head coach responsibility legislation. Finally, the head women's basketball coach was determined to have failed to sufficiently promote an atmosphere of compliance within his program.
In women's outdoor track, a student-athlete was erroneously declared eligible for competition for the 2016 outdoor track season. The UO discovered through its monitoring efforts, that a grade change made at the conclusion of the Winter 2016 quarter was inconsistent with its grading policies. While the NCAA determined that athletic department staff had no role or knowledge of the grade change, it ruled that the underlying circumstances constituted academic misconduct under NCAA legislation.
During the fall of 2016, a previous football coaching staff received permission from the compliance office to create and display personalized messages and PSA video highlights on an electronic reader board during PSA official and unofficial visits. It was subsequently determined that the rules analysis underlying use of the reader board was in error and the reader board's use was a violation of NCAA rules prohibiting personalized recruiting aids.
As a result of these violations, the institution has been placed on probation for two years, from December 5, 2018 to December 4, 2020. Additional penalties over the probationary period include:
- Basketball - for both basketball programs a financial penalty was levied against both basketball programs, as well as a limited reduction of countable coaches available at practice during the 2018-19 seasons. No recruiting, scholarship, regular season or post-season competition penalties were imposed.
- Women's Track – For the 2016 outdoor season, vacation of regular season and conference competition records in which the ineligible student-athlete competed. No recruiting, scholarship, regular season or post-season competition penalties were imposed.
- Football – no penalties were imposed.
