Return to Blog

Hawaii Audit Finds Possible NCAA Violations

The University of Hawaii has completed an internal audit that found, among other inconsistencies, possible NCAA violations involving football camps:

The UH waived fees for 44 football camp participants in 2012, the audit found, prompting further concern about possible NCAA violations if any of those students went on to play football at UH. The audit found UH officials could not provide documentation for why 20 of the students were allowed to attend the summer camps for free.

The issue with undocumented free attendance at football camps goes beyond whether or not a camper ultimately played football at Hawaii:

Bylaw 13.12.1.7.1
An institution, members of its staff or representatives of its athletics interests shall not employ or give free or reduced admission privileges to a prospective student-athlete who is an athletics award winner or any individual being recruited by the institution per Bylaw 13.02.12.1. An institution may offer discounted admission to its camps and clinics based on objective criteria unrelated to athletics abilities (e.g., registration prior to a specific date, online registration, attendance at multiple sessions, group discounts), provided such discounts are published and available on an equal basis to all who qualify.

This is why schools keep meticulous records of who receives discounts or free admission to sports camps. There is the possibility that a school may have to justify the camp discounts it has given. It appears UH is unable to provide documentation for almost half of the fee waivers it gave last summer. This in addition to other problems like sloppy accounting of donations used to boost coaches’ salaries.


Are you ready for the NEXT STEP!