NCAA penalizes Syracuse, Boeheim
— -- The NCAA on Friday suspended Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim for nine ACC games, took away 12 scholarships and ordered that 108 wins be vacated as a result of a multiyear investigation into the university's athletic programs.
"Over the course of a decade, Syracuse University did not control and monitor its athletics programs," the NCAA said in a statement, "and its head men's basketball coach failed to monitor his program."
Syracuse's penalties also include a five-year probation and the vacating of all wins in which ineligible men's basketball student-athletes played during the 2004-07 and 2010-12 seasons, and in which ineligible football student-athletes played in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
In addition, the NCAA agreed to accept the university's decision for the men's basketball team to not participate in any postseason games this season, including the ACC tournament.
The NCAA said that the violations, which were self-reported by Syracuse and dated back to 2001, included academic misconduct, extra benefits, failure to follow the drug-testing policy, and impermissible booster activity.
Other violations included impermissible academic assistance and services, Boeheim's failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance and monitor his staff, and the school's lack of control over its athletics program.
The school must vacate 108 wins -- the most ever taken away from a program, according to Syracuse.com. As a result, Boeheim -- who had only needed 34 wins to join Duke's Mike Krzyzewski as the only coaches to reach 1,000 career wins -- is left with 858, which drops him to sixth on the all-time list.
Boeheim, who must sit out the first nine ACC games of the 2015-16 season, would not immediately comment on the NCAA sanctions.
"Improper institutional involvement and influence in a student's academic work in order to gain or maintain eligibility is a violation of NCAA rules and a violation of the most fundamental core values of the NCAA and higher education," the NCAA's Committee on Infractions wrote in its decision. "The behavior in this case, which placed the desire to achieve success on the basketball court over academic integrity, demonstrated clearly misplaced institutional priorities."
Recruiting restrictions will also be enforced for two years.
The sanctions do not affect Syracuse's 2003 national championship or that team. The university, however, must reimburse the NCAA for all revenue earned during the NCAA tournaments from 2011-13.
The NCAA finished its investigation into Syracuse athletics in late October 2014. Boeheim and football coach Scott Shafer were among the school officials to appear before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions.
The school initiated the case, which includes academics, when it self-reported potential athletic department violations to the NCAA in 2007.
In an effort to be proactive, Syracuse self-imposed the postseason ban on the men's basketball team for this season in February.
The NCAA said Boeheim did not promote an atmosphere of compliance and failed to monitor the activities of those who reported to him regarding academics and boosters.
The NCAA said several violations involved students and staff. The report added that academic violations stemmed from the director of basketball operations, who was hand-picked by Boeheim to address academic matters.
In 2012, Syracuse declared former center Fab Melo ineligible for the NCAA tournament days before it started. Melo also missed three Big East games during the season because of an academic issue. Early in the 2012-13 season, former forward James Southerland sat out six games for an academic issue but helped lead the Orange to the Final Four.
In March 2012, school officials said the university had self-reported possible violations of its internal drug policy by former members of the team and that the NCAA was investigating. No members of that team were involved.
The committee also found that from 2001-09, the school did not follow its own written policies and procedures for students who tested positive for banned substances. NCAA rules require that if schools have a drug-testing policy, it must include substances on the banned list and the school must follow its policy. Syracuse had a written policy, but both Boeheim and athletic director Daryl Gross admitted they did not follow it.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related Stories
ABC News Live