College Basketball

The University of Texas Pan American men’s basketball program has been put on probation for three years and received other sanctions for what NCAA officials called “major rules violations,” including providing cash for athletes.

The South Texas school, located in Edinburg, could have been dealt the so-called “death penalty,” which would have banned men’s basketball at the school for one or two years, because the women’s basketball team was put on probation two years ago for similar violations. Officials opted for the more lenient punishment, however, because “the university took substantial corrective actions,” including firing Kevin Wall as men’s coach last spring.

The NCAA said its investigation found that in March of 1990, Wall helped provide four players with a rental car for a spring-break trip to Houston.

Wall also was cited for giving $200 to a basketball player’s girlfriend in April of 1990.