Tennessee avoids bowl ban from Pruitt tenure

The Tennessee soccer program prevented a bowl ban from the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions, which introduced its punishment for the Volunteers on Friday after discovering greater than 200 particular person infractions dedicated by the college.

Among the many penalties handed down, Tennessee has been positioned on 5 years’ probation, was given an $8 million high quality and can see a complete discount of 28 scholarships; the college was credited for its self-imposed 16-scholarship discount over the previous two seasons.

The $8 million high quality, which the NCAA mentioned was “equal to the monetary influence the college would have confronted if it missed the postseason in the course of the 2023 and 2024 seasons” is believed to be the most important ever levied in an infractions case. It may additionally sign a pattern towards stiffer monetary fines in future infraction circumstances.

Tennessee had been charged with 18 Degree 1 violations — probably the most extreme within the NCAA guidelines construction — in July 2022 stemming from the tenure of former coach Jeremy Pruitt. Included among the many greater than 200 infractions had been costs of $60,000 in impermissible advantages and each Pruitt and his spouse, Casey, making money funds to gamers’ households.

Pruitt obtained a six-year show-cause and can be suspended for the primary full season if he was employed by an NCAA college. Pruitt has been out of top-level teaching since serving as a New York Giants senior defensive assistant in 2021.

Tennessee is coming off an 11-2 season in 2022 below coach Josh Heupel, this system’s first double-digit win season since 2007. The Volunteers received the Orange Bowl and have important momentum heading into 2023, which implies avoiding a bowl ban is a vital step to this system’s development shifting ahead.

The dearth of a bowl ban continues a current pattern in NCAA circumstances, because the group has gone away from punishments which can be punitive towards present gamers, particularly those that weren’t round when the violations occurred.

Tennessee was not charged with an absence of institutional management a 12 months in the past when the costs had been introduced, which lessened the potential scope of the penalties.

The varsity had spent the previous few years self-imposing varied penalties in anticipation of the NCAA sanctions.