DII Clark Atlanta Found Guilty of Men’s Basketball and Women’s Tennis Violations
Division II Clark Atlanta University was put on three years probation and three basketball coaches were given show-cause orders by the Division II Committee on Infractions for violations in the women’s tennis and men’s basketball programs.
The men’s basketball violations involved extra benefits provided to six men’s basketball student-athletes including a discounted plane ticket, impermissible meals, and over $4,500 cash. Additionally, two men’s basketball student-athletes competed while enrolled less than full-time, including one which an assistant coach impermissibly enrolled in another class to make him full-time.
The tennis violation which prompted the investigation involved a transfer who competed impermissibly over two years, 2010–11 and 2011–12. During the first year, she was supposed to be serving a year in residence but played anyway. By 2011–12, she had already exhausted four seasons of competition, but played a fifth season.
Beyond the underlying violations, both an assistant men’s basketball coach and volunteer men’s basketball coach were charged with unethical conduct. The head men’s basketball coach was charged with a failure to monitor his assistants and the school with failure to monitor its athletic programs.
In addition to the probation and show-cause orders, the institution also paid a $5,000 fine and vacated all records involving the three student-athletes who competed while ineligible. The men’s basketball and women’s tennis teams had their scholarships reduced by one equivalency each for the 2014–15 academic year, limiting them to nine and four respectively.