UConn basketball charged with eight violations

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

05/28/2010 - Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Connecticut has received a notice of allegations from the NCAA in regard to possible recruiting violations in the men's basketball program.

UConn officials and the NCAA have been investigating the basketball program since March of 2009, when a report from Yahoo! Sports indicated possible rules violations in the recruitment of Nate Miles, who was expelled from school in October of 2008 without even practicing with the Huskies. The Yahoo! Sports report said Miles was provided with lodging, meals and transportation by Josh Nochimson -- a professional agent and a former UConn student manager.

The school on Friday said the notice from the NCAA contains eight allegations of violations, including impermissible phone calls and text messages to prospective student-athletes, impermissible benefits provided to a prospective student-athlete by a representative of the institution's athletic interests and an impermissible benefit to a prospective student-athlete by a member of the basketball staff.

UConn head coach Jim Calhoun was also part of the allegations, as the NCAA said he failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance in the men's basketball program and failed to adequately monitor the program to ensure compliance with NCAA legislation regarding telephone calls, text messages and benefits provided by a representative of the institution's athletic interests.

"During these past fifteen months, we have fully cooperated with the NCAA's inquiry into our recruitment of a particular student athlete and other matters generally related to the recruitment and conduct of our program," Calhoun said in a release through the school. "In this regard, we are steadfast in our belief that we operate a program deeply committed to complying with the NCAA's guidelines.

"In my 38 years as a collegiate head basketball coach, 25 of which I have spent at the University of Connecticut, I look with particular pride at our strong record of compliance and the impact that we have had on the young men in our program.

"We look forward to working with the NCAA in the coming months and expect to fully respond to their concerns. While we may have made some mistakes in the recruiting process, UConn has never wavered in terms of its fostering and maintaining a strong culture of compliance and has always striven to meet the high standards expected of us."

The university has until August 20 to provide a response to the NCAA Committee on Infractions. School officials are scheduled to appear before the committee on October 15-16.

"The University of Connecticut is fully committed to NCAA rules compliance and takes this matter very seriously," said UConn athletic director Jeffrey Hathaway. "With regard to Coach Calhoun, he personally has a long standing history of demonstrated commitment to NCAA compliance. We appreciate his continued commitment, as well as the full cooperation and support that he has provided throughout this process."

Other allegations from the NCAA include the provision of impermissible complimentary admissions or discretionary tickets, as well as a failure by the institution to adequately monitor the conduct and administration of the men's basketball staff in the areas of: telephone records; representatives of the institution's athletics interests; and complimentary admissions or discretionary tickets.

The NCAA also alleged that two members of the basketball staff provided false and misleading information to the NCAA Enforcement staff and to the institution.

On Thursday night, the Hartford Courant reported that assistant coach Patrick Sellers and director of basketball operations Beau Archibald resigned in the wake of the allegations.

The notice of allegations says members of the basketball staff violated rules by exchanging at least 160 impermissible phone calls and sending at least 191 impermissible text messages to prospective student-athletes. The NCAA permits just one call per month to prospective recruits in a player's junior year of high school.

In regard to Nochimson, the NCAA alleges he provided impermissible benefits and that as a former team manager he could be considered a person with "athletic interests" for the school. Therefore, he would be unable to be involved in the recruiting process.

The school released documents from the NCAA detailing Nochimson's role and correspondence with members of the UConn staff, including assistant coach Tom Moore, now the head coach at Quinnipiac.

In late September 2008, Miles was arrested by UConn campus police and issued a restraining order after a female student said she was physically and sexually assaulted by him. Miles then made contact with the woman, leading to felony charges of violating a restraining order.

The school expelled Miles in early October before basketball practice began. Miles eventually enrolled at the College of Southern Idaho.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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