Rashaan Evans Signing Day 2014

Auburn High's Rashaan Evans chooses Alabama over Auburn and UCLA on Wednesday, February 5, 2014, in Auburn, Ala. (Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)

AUBURN, Alabama -- Auburn determined its premature publishing of Rashaan Evans' biography on its website was an NCAA violation, according to documents released to AL.com and other media outlets.



Auburn released documents from the 2013-14 academic year containing 21 secondary violations with heavily-redacted information Tuesday.



Auburn's compliance staff terms the leak of the five-star linebacker's bio online a "hack" by the media. The web page was discovered by fans and other media outlets, including ESPN, moments before the Auburn High star announced his intention to sign with Alabama.



"Media personnel were able to hack into the site and 'find' the code to pull up the bio," Auburn officials explained in a self-reported violation submitted to the NCAA in March. "The bio for Evans was then publicized on media sites. [Auburn] never posted the information on its own site, and never intended for the bio to be visible."



The web page, however, was visible to anyone who typed in the correct URL, which is not mentioned in the self-reported violation. Auburn's media relations staff wrote biographies for every prospect Auburn's compliance department issued a National Letter of Intent to on Feb. 5.

Rashaan Evans' bio was discovered by fans and reporters, and shared on Twitter in the moments leading up to the Auburn High linebacker's announcement to sign with Alabama.

Evans' page was published (Auburn denies this claim), but the school did not publicize the bio on AuburnTigers.com.



Auburn's staff told the NCAA it will "work harder to 'hide' the information in code, so that future successful hacking attempts do not result in violations."



Auburn explained to the NCAA "there was no intent to release the information; in fact the release of the information was an embarrassment to the athletics department, particularly the media relations staff."



Auburn removed the page and a YouTube video including highlights of the Auburn High linebacker on the same day. The YouTube video, which was removed, is not mentioned in the documents filed with the NCAA.

RELATED: Auburn's 21 self-reported NCAA violations (PDF)



An Auburn spokesman explained at the time it "did not prematurely post a bio of a recruit," though the page was visible to crafty fans and media -- if they knew the URL or extrapolated the URL's number based on the URLs of other bios Auburn released as letters of intent were received by the school.



Evans, a five-star linebacker out of Auburn High, chose Alabama over Auburn during a ceremony at Auburn High on Feb. 5.



"It was down to the wire," Evans' father, Alan Evans, said at the ceremony. "We could have pulled the Auburn hat out and we would have been just as happy. I think he made the best decision for him and I think he's going to be happy at the University of Alabama."

Auburn does not believe any NCAA penalties are warranted because Evans signed with another school.

Auburn's heavily-redacted documents do not contain identifiable information for athletes, prospects, coaches or its athletics department personnel. The school also redacted signatures, including those from athletics director Jay Jacobs.

A brief recap of the 21 violations can be found below.

AL.com reporter Joel A. Erickson contributed to this report.

Auburn's self-reported NCAA violations (2013-14)

Aug. 13, 2013: Impermissible phone call; did not effect athlete's eligibility

Sept. 7, 2013: Athletics department employee invited prospect in a redacted club for a glass of water; eligibility not affected.

Feb. 15, 2013, through the season: Student-athlete competed without being certified as a qualifier for 15 games in 2012-13. A 2-2-4 transfer; Auburn seeking reinstatement.

Aug. 10, 2013: Four student-athletes' meal at restaurant is paid for by unknown individual despite players telling waiter it would be a violation. Players return to restaurant next day and pay for meal; no effect on eligibility.

Sept. 2, 2013: Impermissible contact of sophomore prospect via Facebook; first contact with recruit delayed 60 days.

Oct. 11-13, 2013: Prospect received meals totaling $90 by an associate coach of a redacted sport; unidentified coach said he confused rule with complimentary ticket legislation. Prospect signed with another school.

Nov. 30, 2013: Someone other than coach or staff member takes photo with prospect during a game. One of the figures in the report is said to have "celebrity status." The picture was shared on Twitter. The prospect signed elsewhere.

Jan. 17, 2014: Improper contact with prospect in group message; coach prohibited from telephone contact until Feb. 1 and electronic correspondence until Feb. 18.

Feb. 5: A bio page for Rashaan Evans is discovered via a "hack" by "media personnel." The prospect, who had yet to sign with a school, later chose Alabama over Auburn.

Feb. 12, 2014: Impermissible off-campus contact with high school junior; coach prohibited from all off-campus contact for 30 days

March 6-7, 2014: Unidentified coach provides tickets to two postseason athletics events totaling $28 to a high school coach, who is an alum and booster, which is a violation.

Oct. 24: An assistant coach had impermissible contact with a prospect's father via text message when he or she was running late for an in-home visit; eligibility was not affected; coach was prohibited from making recruiting contact for 14 days, no recruiting calls until Nov. 26 and entire staff prohibited from sending recruiting materials to prospect and prospect's father for 30 days.

May 22-23, 2014: An assistant coach called a prospective student-athlete who had been released from a national letter of intent at another school, believing the athlete had completed the return of the letter of intent; no eligibility was affected; the assistant coach was not allowed to recruit for two weeks, and the coaching staff did not contact the athlete for two weeks.

May 6, 2014: Five prospective student-athletes were provided "impermissible nonathletics institutional publications;" No contact was allowed with students for 30 days after first day of permissible contact; no phone calls with five prospects for 60 days

April 11, 2014: A coach sent a text message to a junior prospective student-athlete while on a call on another line, thinking the prospect was a current student; the coach made no recruiting calls for two weeks, no contact with prospect for 30 days; an assistant coach sent emails to prospect, extending the period of no contact

December 27, 2013: A coaching staff made two calls to a prospective transfer student-athlete in a period where only one call was permitted; The coaching staff was not allowed to contact the recruit for two weeks

March 2014: A walk-on athlete was allowed to practice before eligibility had been cleared by the NCAA, participating in approximately 80 practices; the athlete was reinstated on April 18 after the mistake was uncovered and the athlete cleared the NCAA Eligibility Center.

April 11-13, 2014: Two coaches retweeted a prospect's tweet on his official visit, a violation of public electronic correspondence; the coaches were prohibited from making any calls to the prospect beginning April 14, and the coaches involved were not able to make recruiting calls for two weeks.

April 28, 2014: A coaching staff was restricted from calling a prospective student-athlete for 30 days beginning April 14, and one of the coaches called on April 28; the coaching staff was informed of the mistake.

November 22, 2013: A head coach was asked to speak to a high school team at lunch, but the team had a game scheduled for that night, making it impermissible; the compliance staff met with the staff, and a letter of admonishment was issued.

November 22, 2013: Two coaches visited the same high school during the fall evaluation period; the second coach was unaware the first had visited. No eligibility was affected, and the compliance department met with the staff.