Recruiting Violation-MHC Basketball |
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Commissioner's Rulings
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2016-17 SeasonJune 29, 2017Facts: 1. St. Mary’s Incident STMU has reported a potential recruiting violation by MHC Men’s Basketball Coach, Rich Humphreys. According to STMU, during the weekend of April 7-9, 2017 two of its Men’s Basketball players, Osato Obaseki and Aaron Brown, attended a MHC talent identification camp. After consulting with Coach Humphreys, MHC’s Athletic Director, Terry Ballard, has provided the following response:
2. Lakeland College Incident Lakeland College has advised that one of its Men’s Basketball players, Jonathan Sappleton, also took part in the MHC talent ID camp over the weekend in question. Again, no notice was provided to Lakeland by MHC. In response to this allegation, Mr. Ballard has provided the following response:
Finally, it is worth noting that during the week immediately prior to the MHC talent ID camp, a STMU Women’s Basketball player signed to play for MHC during the 2017-18 season after attending a MHC talent ID camp, with no contact having been initiated by MHC. Although STMU was satisfied by Mr. Ballard’s explanation that his first year coach inadvertently neglected to follow the Operating Code and STMU has elected not to bring a formal complaint for that incident, it is still a relevant consideration in the context of the subsequent incidents. Ruling: Article I Section 7 Rule 1 of the ACAC Operating Code states as follows: Recruiting Rules 1.1. Violations: The Recruiting Rules are in place to protect the integrity of the ACAC. Violations of these rules are serious offences. Any ACAC member should bring to the attention of the ACAC President accusations of recruiting violations with supporting documentation. The ACAC President must refer recruiting violations to the ACAC Commissioner who will investigate and report the findings to all ACAC members. An escalating severity of consequences scale is recommended and is to be applied at the discretion of the Commissioner. (Amended November, 2010) In addition, Rule 1.6 states the following: 1.6. Athletes Registered at Another Collegiate Institution: No member of an athletic staff or other delegate of athletic interest shall contact, directly or indirectly, the student of another collegiate institution to discuss the possible attendance of the athlete at their collegiate institution unless that student makes the initial contact with the delegate of the institution. If the above occurs, the following steps shall be followed: 1.6.1. Once the athlete has made initial contact, it is the responsibility of the athletic staff member or delegate to immediately inform the athlete of the process that must be followed (see 1.6.2 below). Should the athlete want more information, the athletic staff or delegate may inform the athlete of application and registration procedures, provide information on the athletic program and answer any questions the athlete may have. ACAC OPERATING CODE Article I Section 7 – RECRUITING Page 35 of 218 1.6.2 At the earliest possible time, the Athletic Director shall officially inform the other institution’s Athletic Director that the athlete has made initial contact and requested information regarding the institution’s athletic program. The AD of the previously-attended institution must be notified by the receiving AD that he/she has received the information. Information on the athletic program and questions answered may then be passed along to the athlete. Finally, Rule 2.1 is worded as follows: Player Identification Camps (ID Camps) 2.1. Talent identification and evaluation camps are not open to student-athletes who have participated in the ACAC at another institution in the same year as the camps are staged. An exception to this rule will be allowed if the student athletes have applied to the host institution for the next athletic-academic season and/or attended the host institution in the same athletic-academic year. (Added May, 2007) There is no evidence to suggest that MHC set out to deliberately entice athletes from other ACAC schools to either attend its talent ID camps or to transfer to its program. Mr. Ballard is adamant that the breaches of the Operating Code were unintentional and he concedes that he should have been more diligent in fully explaining the relevant recruiting provisions with his relatively inexperienced coaches. Notwithstanding Mr. Ballard’s explanations, Rule 1.1 above makes it clear that the Conference considers recruiting violations, even inadvertent ones, to be serious offences, which must be treated with the utmost seriousness. In the case of the STMU athletes, not only should those athletes have not been allowed to participate in the camp, as per Rule 2.1, but the failure of Coach Humphreys to immediately advise Mr. Ballard of their appearance at the camp, before allowing them to participate, was a direct breach of Rule1.6. Similarly, allowing Lakeland’s Jonathan Sappleton to participate at the camp was also a breach of Rule 2.1 and, in any event, I further find that it was not reasonable for Coach Humphreys to attempt to suggest that he had complied with Rule 1.6 by leaving a voicemail for Mr. Ballard on his office line during a weekend, knowing that the message would likely not be retrieved until the following week. Having not been able to reach Mr. Ballard in person, Coach Humphreys clearly should not have allowed any of these athletes to participate in the camp. Had I found these breaches to have been intentional, the sanctions would have been more severe. As it is, however, these violations, although apparently unintentional, cannot go unpunished. Given the proximity of the violations, I have chosen to deal with them as one continuing incident. As such, it is my ruling that Coach Humphreys is hereby suspended for the first two (2) regular season games of the 2017-18 ACAC season. In addition, MHC shall forthwith pay a fine of $1,000.00 to the ACAC Office. Sincerely, Bill Hendsbee
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