NCAA: Baylor looked for loopholes to skirt football recruiting rules School's self-imposed penalties accepted by NCAA

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Baylor was more interested in finding ways around NCAA recruiting rules rather than following them, the NCAA's committee on infractions said on Wednesday in announcing its findings against the school.

Two Baylor assistant football coaches exceeded the number of allowable recruiting evaluations for two prospects and had impermissible contact with one of the prospects, the NCAA said. A third assistant football coach attended a game of a future opponent, which was prohibited off-campus scouting.

The NCAA did not name the assistants in its report but Kendal Briles and Tate Wallis were suspended for the 2015 opener against Lamar. Jeff Lebby was suspended for half a game against Oklahoma in 2015.

The panel adopted Baylor's self-imposed penalties, including recruiting restrictions, a one game suspension for two of the assistant coaches and a half-game suspension for the third assistant coach.

The NCAA said that despite receiving education about recruiting rules, two assistant football coaches tried to find a loophole in the rules to allow them to be seen more by prospects in the spring.

The NCAA accepted Baylor's sanctions for recruiting violations in 2015 under Art Briles. The NCAA accepted Baylor's sanctions for recruiting violations in 2015 under Art Briles. Photo: LM Otero, STF Photo: LM Otero, STF Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close NCAA: Baylor looked for loopholes to skirt football recruiting rules 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

During one compliance session, a coach asked if the staff could attend a track meet and turn their backs when the prospect they wanted to be seen by was competing so the coaches could avoid having to log an evaluation for that prospect. Although the compliance office stated this would be allowable, the panel noted that counsel was ill-advised at best. It further noted that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for a school to monitor when, or if, a coach attending a track meet looks down or turns away from a certain event to avoid evaluations of a prospect.

"It is disappointing that the university's coaching staff was more interested in finding loopholes

to exploit the rules instead of trying to follow the rules," said Greg Christopher, chief hearing officer for the panel and athletics director at Xavier University. "The assistant coaches could have easily avoided these violations if their focus had been following the rules rather than finding ways around them."

After receiving the guidance from compliance, the two assistant coaches attended track meets

during the spring of 2015 and positioned themselves where contact with prospects was possible.

Schools are limited to two evaluations per prospect in the spring evaluation period, so the three evaluations with one prospect and four evaluations with another violated NCAA rules.

In attending the prospects' track meets, the panel stated the assistant coaches were trying to

show the prospects they were important to the university, and because of the impermissible evaluations, the university gained an advantage over other schools that were following the recruiting rules.

The NCAA said this infractions case is limited to recruiting violations in the football program. The panel has not considered any additional information related to the university's football program.

The school's football program was rocked by the dismissal of coach Art Briles last May in the wake of how the school handled sexual assault allegations against football players.

Penalties and corrective actions adopted by the panel include:

A $5,000 fine.

The football staff stopped recruiting one of the prospects for eight weeks (self-imposed by the university).

The football staff stopped recruiting at track and field meets (self-imposed by the university).

The two assistant coaches who exceeded evaluations were suspended for one game during the 2015-16 season (self-imposed by the university).

The assistant coach who attended the future competitor's game was suspended from the first half of one game during the 2015-16 season (self-imposed by the university).

The two assistant coaches who exceeded evaluations were prohibited from off-campus recruiting for 12 weeks during the fall 2015 evaluation period (self-imposed by the university).

"We are grateful the NCAA Committee on Infractions accepted our original self-imposed penalties from September 2015," Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades said. "Baylor University accepts this outcome.

"Complying with NCAA regulation is a fundamental expectation of all Baylor coaches, staff, student-athletes and supporters. As President David Garland shared with the Committee on Infractions, we have tremendous confidence in our well-established compliance program, yet we will continue to place great emphasis on this expectation and hold those individuals accountable in circumstances where non-compliance occurs."