NCAA to reconsider scholie reduction

[mysfit]

That would be nice and it sounds like a real possibility

NCAA to reconsider scholarship penalties against Boise State football team | Voices.IdahoStatesman.com

Boise State might score a partial victory in its appeal of sanctions handed down by the NCAA last year.

The Division I Infractions Appeals Committee has instructed the Committee on Infractions to reconsider its scholarship penalties against the Broncos football program — a loss of three scholarships per year over three years (2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons). The appeals committee upheld the spring practice penalty, which took away three opportunities to have full contact in practice in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Those were the only penalties appealed by Boise State.

The football program still loses three preseason practices for this season, as it did last season. That penalty was not appealed.

Boise State argued that the history of scholarship reductions imposed by the NCAA was inconsistent with precedent. The school had self-imposed a penalty of three total scholarships, a penalty the program took last season.

"Boise State contends that these penalties are excessive such that they constitute abuses of discretion in the situation presented by the case," the school’s appeal says. “… The Committee improperly increased the self-imposed football grant-in-aid restrictions ... even though the penalty is not warranted and is inconsistent with precedent and the circumstances of this case.”

The appeals committee said prior precedent “should have been more fully weighed and considered.”

In fact, the appeals committee says Boise State is right to argue that it received stiffer scholarship penalties than schools that committed more serious offenses. Of 10 cases involving FBS schools and the reduction of scholarships over the past five years, the committee notes, only two received larger penalties. Those involved New Mexico and USC and “were more serious and had a great deal more issues that warranted greater penalties,” the committee writes. Of the remaining eight, only three had reductions of more than three scholarships. Those cases included academic fraud (Florida State), payment of a student-athlete for work not performed (Oklahoma) and inappropriate academic support (Kansas). “Again, we believe those cases were more serious than this one and warranted additional penalties,” the committee writes.

“In this case, there appears to be no qualitative distinction in the record that would warrant the extent of the departure from prior precedent that was undertaken by the Committee on Infractions in this case. Therefore, the reduction by nine of football grants-in-aid is excessive,” the committee concludes. “This committee, while recognizing the authority of the Committee on Infractions, respectfully finds that in this case the Committee on Infractions failed to consider and weigh the material factors of the precedent set in prior cases. Therefore, the Committee on Infractions' increase of the reduction in football grants-in-aid from three to nine imposed a penalty that was excessive such that it constituted an abuse of discretion. For that reason the Infractions Appeals Committee believes it is appropriate to remand to the Committee on Infractions for reconsideration of the appropriate penalty/”

There is no timeline yet for the COI to reconsider the penalties. Fall camp begins Aug. 4.

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