Scholarships Restored at Georgia

The NCAA gave Georgia a rare basketball victory Friday, restoring three men’s scholarships that were taken away after the scandal that forced the removal of Jim Harrick as coach.

Initially, the Bulldogs were stripped of one scholarship for each of the 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons as part of their four-year probation.

The school acknowledged that academic fraud occurred in a sham class taught by Harrick’s son, assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr., but appealed the seriousness of the penalties.

At a March hearing, Georgia’s delegation asked the NCAA to restore one of the scholarships.

Instead, the Division I Infractions Appeals Committee ruled that Georgia should get all three scholarships back -- a major victory for a program coming off its worst season in 30 years.

The Bulldogs went 8-20 with a roster that included only seven scholarship players.

“This is exciting news for our basketball program as we work to recover from the events of 2003,” said Coach Dennis Felton, who replaced Harrick.

“I’m very grateful that the university had the foresight to pursue the appeal and, obviously, the result proves that effort to be very prudent and worthwhile.”