Admitting it found NCAA violations in its men’s basketball program dating to 2011, Missouri on Wednesday banned itself from the postseason this year and said it is vacating all 23 wins from the 2013-14 season.
The NCAA is still investigating and Missouri said it was working with the organization in hopes of limiting the punishment to its self-imposed sanctions, which includes the SEC tournament.
“We have already taken many proactive steps to address concerns, including appropriate self-imposed sanctions,” athletic director Mack Rhoades said in a statement. “We will win at Mizzou and do so with integrity and class.”
Missouri was 23-12 in 2013-14, Frank Haith’s final season. Haith left for Tulsa not long after the school received a verbal notice of inquiry from the NCAA in April 2014. The Tigers won just nine games last season under new coach Kim Anderson.
“We are obviously very disappointed that the actions of a few individuals have put our program in this situation,” Anderson said in a statement. “I hurt for our kids more than anything and for our only senior, Ryan Rosburg, in particular.”
Besides the postseason ban, the school has stripped itself of one scholarship this season and a second scholarship no later than the 2017-18 season, plus has restricted recruiting through 2016-17. It also said it would pay a $5,000 fine.
The school permanently banned one unidentified donor who the NCAA said provided impermissible benefits to three players and one recruit in 2013-14. The benefits included compensation for work not done at a business through a summer intern program, along with housing, $520 cash, local transportation, iPads, meals and use of a local gym.
“It is clear from our collaborative investigation with the NCAA that a former member of our athletics staff and members of our donor community violated NCAA bylaws, and we take those actions seriously,” chancellor Hank Foley said.
A second donor has been banned for two years after providing 11 players and three members of one player’s transportation for multiple players to the hotel from the campus.
The school was hit with a third major infraction for failing to adequately monitor the internship program.
There were two minor infractions cited. A former associate head coach helped a recruit relocate by providing the phone number of the recruit’s mother to the second donor to arrange for rental housing, and the first donor had multiple impermissible contacts with a recruit.
The school said there is no evidence that any current staff members were aware of the violations.
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