Syracuse’s NCAA violations cost scholarships, earn Boeheim nine-game ban

Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim has been suspended for the Orange’s first nine Atlantic Coast Conference games next season and the school will lose 12 basketball scholarships for NCAA violations by the program.

“From 2001-02 through 2011-12, the school failed to exercise proper control over the administration of its athletics program and used deficient monitoring systems, which allowed violations to occur involving academics, compliance with its own drug testing policy as well as staff and student relationships with a booster,” the NCAA said Friday in a statement announcing the penalties.

In February, Syracuse announced a self-imposed ban from the postseason as the NCAA investigated the school for potential violations that the school initially self-reported.

The NCAA’s report cited Boeheim with failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance as part of its reasoning for suspending the coach.

The college athletics governing body detailed several violations committed by the university, including improper academic assistance provided to a men’s basketball player while trying to restore his eligibility in January 2012. According to the NCAA, Syracuse’s director of basketball operations and a team receptionist completed coursework for a student who had previously been denied an eligibility waiver.

Additionally, the university was penalized for money received by student-athletes from a school booster. Three football players and two basketball players received $8,000 for volunteering at a local YMCA from an unnamed booster.

The NCAA also said Syracuse failed to enforce its own drug testing policy from 2001-09, allowing players who tested positive for banned substances on more than one occasion to practice and play in games.

Other penalties levied by the NCAA include a five-year probation, vacating of wins by the men’s basketball team in games played by ineligible players from 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2010-11 and 2011-12.

“Syracuse University did not and does not agree with all the conclusions reached by the NCAA, including some of the findings and penalties included in today’s report,” Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverud wrote in a statement. “However, we take the report and the issues it identifies very seriously, particularly those that involve academic integrity and the overall well-being of student-athletes.”

The university is considering appealing portions of the NCAA’s decision.

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