Oregon coach Kelly Graves to serve two-game suspension for NCAA violations

The NCAA’s Dec. 2018 Universtiy of Oregon Public Infractions Decision

The NCAA announced today that Oregon head coach Kelly Graves will serve a two-game suspension for failing “to monitor and promote an atmosphere of compliance in his program.” Several Oregon teams including women’s basketball, men’s basketball, women’s track & field, and football were cited for violations.

The full explanation from the NCAA:

The women’s assistant strength coach participated in on-court activities both during and after practices, including stepping into drills at the head coach’s request. The head women’s basketball coach explained during the committee’s infractions hearing that the on-court activities started with a lapse of judgement and then became more frequent. The committee noted the women’s head coach admitted he knew it was impermissible for the assistant strength coach to participate. The panel noted that the head women’s coach took full responsibility for the assistant strength coach’s actions during the hearing.

The assistant strength coach also participated in voluntary student-athlete workouts. The head women’s coach was not specifically aware of the assistant strength coach’s participation in the workouts but acknowledged that he “kind of assumed” it was happening, according to the committee.

The participation by the assistant strength coach caused the women’s basketball program to exceed the number of allowable coaches and gave the program a competitive advantage of an extra coach, the committee said.

The committee found the head women’s coach failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and failed to monitor his staff. In its report, the committee said it appreciated the coach’s candor at the hearing and his admission to lapses of judgement. But the head coach’s disregard for the rules about impermissible coaching activity did not set the proper tone for compliance in his program, the committee added.

Penalties

• Two years of probation for the university from Dec. 5, 2018, through Dec. 4, 2020.
• A two-game suspension for the head women’s basketball coach during the 2018-19 season.
• The women’s basketball program must reduce the number of countable coaches by one at regular practice for 10 hours during the 2018-19 season (self-imposed by the university).
• A $5,000 fine plus 1 percent of each of the men’s and women’s basketball budgets.