NCAA Hammer Begins To Fall

The University of Miami remains in wait-and-see mode, but the news for a few former coaches has come down and the the phrase “unethical conduct” is being thrown around regarding both Frank Haith and Clint Hurtt.

Haith, the head basketball coach at Missouri and Hurtt, defensive line coach / associate head football coach at Louisville, look to be in very hot water.

Haith is expected to be charged with both “unethical conduct” and “failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance” in regards to the NCAA’s investigation of UM athletics and when the official Notice Of Allegations is delivered, Hurtt is expected to get clobbered, as well. The NOA is expected to be delivered sometime this week.

“They are pretty much throwing everything at him,” the source said of Hurtt. “They have him on essentially everything that was brought to the attention of the NCAA, some of which has been publicly known because of (Nevin Shapiro) but there are some other things that did not involve Shapiro that they’re charging him with.”

Three other assistants – all part of the Miami basketball program – are also expected to get hit with the “violation of Bylaw 10.1” unethical conduct charge – Jake Morton, Jorge Fernandez and Michael Schwartz. Morton is currently at Western Kentucky, Fernandez is out of work (having left Marshall after last season) and Schwartz is on Fresno State’s staff.

Former Miami football coach Aubrey Hill was mentioned in the recent CBSSports.com article, but it doesn’t seem that he’s been lumped in as a 10.1 candidate. Hill resigned from the University of Florida weeks before the 2012 season.

CBS did report that the NCAA could not find proof that Haith or his staff paid $10,000 to former player DeQuan Jones, or his family. Jones, now with the Orlando Magic, missed a good portion of the 2011-2012 season, but was eventually reinstated.

What all this means in the grand scheme of things, no one can pretend to know. But the fact the NCAA is holding coaches liable is a step in the right direction.

Miami football has already self-imposed three post-season games – back-to-back bowl games, as well as slot in last year’s ACC Championship game, as the Canes won the Coastal Division and passed up a chance for a rematch against in-state rival and Atlantic Division winner Florida State.

UM also saw over a half dozen football players suspended during the 2011 season – a handful of players sitting out upwards of four to six games – while a few other players were pushed out of the program, namely safety Ray-Ray Armstrong, who missed a total of five games in ’11.

With the University of Miami fully cooperative and compliant in the process – remember, it was UM who reported Shapiro to the NCAA a year before the Yahoo! Sports story broke – could this go down as a landmark case, with punishment directly impacting the adults involved, as opposed to cripple the program in the present day, hurting coaches and kids who had nothing to do with the scandal?

While nothing is known with the NCAA, who governs itself, it appears Miami will avoid the dreaded “lack of institutional control” charge, meaning no more bowl bans and most likely just probation and some lost scholarships.

Head coach Al Golden is already preparing for the lost scholies, forcing himself to sign a smaller class this February, with UM only carrying eighty scholarship athletes, opposed to the standard eighty-five.

More this week when the NOA finally drops

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