News today: WVU is on NCAA probation for the next two years! Fourteen sports committed a series of NCAA recruiting violations over 31 months, or technically speaking, “significant breaches of conduct.” WVU self-reported its misdeeds and self-imposed a list of mostly since-expired punishments, and though disappointed this had to happen, the school is otherwise pleased with the resolution.

While the case in its entirety was considered a Level II infraction, there were no allegations against the University that it failed to monitor its athletics programs, nor any allegations of a lack of institutional control or failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance.

That’s a big deal for a school. You don’t want to get accused of any of those three items, and WVU avoided each. Rifle and women’s cross country were the only guiltless sports on campus, and wouldn’t you know it, gymnastics was the biggest culprit. Of the school’s 294 impermissible texts and 66 impermissible telephone calls, gymnastics accounted for 153 of the texts and one phone call … and one assistant coach was responsible for 151 of those 154 breaches.

In the report it issued today, the NCAA sounded sort of pissed about that part in particular.

The assistant women’s gymnastics coach sent 150 impermissible text messages and placed one impermissible telephone call over a 14-month period. He committed approximately 42 percent of the total violations in this case. The panel was troubled by the coach’s claim that he was ignorant of how NCAA legislation applied to certain aspects of text messaging and does not believe that his claimed ignorance of NCAA bylaws constitutes a defense to his violations. Therefore, in this case, the panel prescribed a one-year show-cause order for the assistant women’s gymnastics coach beginning February 18, 2015, through February 17, 2016 The panel prohibits the assistant women’s gymnastics coach from conducting all recruiting activities as defined by NCAA Bylaw 13.02.13 (2013-14 Division I Manual) during the 30 days preceding the 2015 spring NLI signing date (April 15, 2015). This restriction includes all means of recruiting communication, e.g. in-person, telephone, text messaging, social media, etc. Further, the assistant women’s gymnastics coach shall attend a NCAA Regional Rules Seminar in 2015 at his own expense. Finally, the panel acknowledges and adopts the institution one-competition suspension of the assistant women’s gymnastics coach during the 2013-14 academic year.

That link is the full report, and there’s a lot in that link to read and digest — alleged pocket dials, coaches not knowing the difference between texting and emailing on their phones, WVU’s costly inability to understand software it purchased to monitor text and telephone activity, the fact this happened while WVU was on probation — but one item stands out: It doesn’t seem the NCAA and WVU saw things the same here.

(Update: No, seriously, go read it. Here are WVU’s defenses to the volume of impermissible calls and texts

1. Pocket dial
2. I don’t remember that call.
3. I honestly can’t differentiate between sending an email and a text on my cell.
4. I don’t know the rules.

The NCAA took exception to all of that, especially No. 4, and not only went out of its way, but parked the car, put on the flashers and then climbed the hood so it could stand on the rood to say this cannot happen whilst on probation.)

WVU initially self-reported 180 text message violations involving 12 sports and 26 telephone call violations involving seven sports, all occurring between June 2010 and February 2013. The NCAA’s enforcement staff’s reviewed the self-report and the associated documents and determined that an additional 114 text messages and 40 telephone call violations occurred, all of which were added to the case. That’s quite a disparity, and the NCAA said the overall volume of calls and texts “occurred due to coaches’ misunderstanding of NCAA recruiting legislation.”

Ouch.

“Some of the most common areas of misunderstanding included: (a) the permissibility of communicating with parents of prospective student-athletes who were also club or nonscholastic team coaches; (b) confusion regarding the permissibility of texting prospective student-athletes who had either verbally committed to attend the institution, or had signed NLIs or financial papers; and (c) the permissibility of communicating with prospective student-athletes regarding institutional camps.”

Nothing mandatory rules education can’t fix.

Later, WVU and the NCAA created a summary disposition report and submitted that to a review panel, which first wanted more information on the football program’s self-imposed penalties (most notably, one scholarship for the 2013-14 year) and then took a stronger look at the gymnastics coach. Today’s report says, “The panel determined that the case warranted additional penalties.”

Hmm.

Near the end, the report lists the “Standard Core Penalties,” and first defines the probation period: Two years, beginning February 18, 2015, through February 17, 2017.

There’s a footnote after “2017.” That footnote? “The institution proposed a one-year probationary period. Institutions may propose probationary periods but the authority to prescribe NCAA probation rests solely with the committee.”

Feel free to share any other discoveries from the report with the class. I’ve got to get back to writing.