Alabama secondary violations revealed

Former Alabama and current Buffalo Bills defensive lineman Marcell Dareus was suspended for the first two games of last season as a result of NCAA rules violations.

 

 

 Ranging from improper recruiting text messages to selling complementary game tickets, the Alabama athletics department broke a few handfuls of minor NCAA rules over the past two years -- 44 to be exact.

The school released the list secondary NCAA violations committed from July 1, 2009 through Thursday on its website Friday. Of the 44 missteps, 16 involved the football program and two for men's basketball.
The NCAA defines a secondary violation as an isolated or accidental in nature. They're not as serious as the major infractions committed in the textbook scandal that brought penalties involving vacating victories and probation handed down two years ago.
"Secondary violations do not include extra benefits or any significant recruiting benefits," the NCAA website states. "If a school commits several secondary violations, they may collectively be considered a major infraction. Secondary violations occur frequently and are usually resolved administratively."
The information released is subject of regular open record requests made by media organizations every few months. Messages left for UA officials were not returned Saturday afternoon.
For the Crimson Tide football program, most of the 16 involved communication with recruits deemed impermissible. Six were for text messages or phone calls, two for publicizing recruiting visits and another for visiting a recruit on the day of competition.
Marcell Dareus' trips to a party thrown by an agent in Miami last summer accounted for one of the two offenses leading to a game suspension. Dareus was held out of the first two games of last season.
Another unnamed player was held out after selling free tickets to games. The player was also required to repay the profits to charity and the entire team was reeducated on the specific rule.
Most "corrective actions" for the violations included rules education, while others included a letter of admonishment. Bans on communicating with recruits also ranging from 14 to 30 days.
One of the two infractions committed by the men's basketball team brought stiffer penalties. After sending impermissible texts to recruits, the entire staff was banned from sending any recruiting material to any recruit for two weeks.
The assistant coach who committed the violation was not allowed to initiate any contact with recruits for 14 days, and the entire staff was prohibited from contacting a specific unnamed recruit. The number of official visits was also reduced.
Dates of violations were not included on the list released by the school.
The other basketball issue resulted from a walk-on playing in two games during the December vacation before being declared eligible. The player later was declared eligible.
Nine other programs were cited for secondary violations as well as the sports information department and the alumni association. The NCAA championship-winning gymnastics program committed six infractions related to recruiting.
The women's basketball program had the second-most violations behind football with eight. Of the list, seven involved recruiting and the other was for leaving more than 48 hours before a road game.