Memphis and Hardaway Escape Serious Punishment for NCAA Violations

In statements issued by the university, President Bill Hardgrave, Athletic Director Laird Veatch and Hardaway each made a point of thanking the N.C.A.A.’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process panel, which adjudicated the case. The panel is made up of people with relevant expertise who do not work for N.C.A.A. member universities or conferences.

The panel classified all the infractions as Level II and Level III, though investigators had classified four infractions as Level I — the most severe, including three against Hardaway.

“When we thoroughly access it, we acknowledged that it reached a Level II, but no higher,” Fraser said.

The I.A.R.P. was developed as a way to fast-track infraction cases in the wake of an F.B.I. corruption case that was a window into the under-the-table world of men’s basketball recruiting when it was announced five years ago. But the disciplinary format, which does not allow for appeals, has done little to speed up decisions — and earlier this year, the N.C.A.A. Division I board of directors voted to do away with the panel once it finished its current cases.

Those include four other cases stemming from the F.B.I. probe: Kansas, Arizona, Louisville and Louisiana State. Two of those cases have had their final hearings, said Derrick Crawford, the N.C.A.A. vice president of hearing operations, who added that he expected them all to wrap up by “late spring, early summer of 2023.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/27/sports/ncaabasketball/memphis-hardaway-wiseman.html