NCAA proposal: Schools could avoid postseason ban with cooperation

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Schools facing NCAA infractions cases could ensure they avoid postseason bans if they show “exemplary cooperation” with investigators under a proposal before the NCAA Division I Council.

The NCAA announced Thursday that the Division I board of directors infractions process committee had introduced that proposal. The proposal would define the term “exemplary cooperation” more clearly while establishing its impact on possible penalties.

The NCAA said that impact would include removing a postseason ban from the table for the majority of schools found to have demonstrated extensive cooperation.

The policy would take effect Aug. 1 if the council approves it in June.

“Full cooperation is already an expectation of all members of our association,” said Geoffrey S. Mearns, the president of Ball State University and chair of the committee that introduced the proposal. “But by providing specific information about how an institution can demonstrate exemplary cooperation, and by providing clear incentives for that cooperation, we will expedite the fair resolution of infractions cases, which remains a priority for all Division I members.”

Some of the factors the infractions committee would consider in determining whether a school has provided “exemplary cooperation” would be volunteering all pertinent school and personal information that could be reasonably expected to help the process; identifying individuals to be interviewed who the enforcement staff might otherwise not know about; expending “substantial resources” to expedite the gathering of information; addressing violations through self-imposed penalties or corrective measures; and informing the enforcement staff of violations that might otherwise not be known.

If the infractions committee decides a school or party has demonstrated exemplary cooperation, the panel would reduce the case by one classification level. That would in turn reduce the potential penalty.

For all cases in which a school or party that isn’t a repeat violator shows exemplary cooperation, the panel wouldn’t hand out a postseason ban.

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