The NCAA released its findings Friday from a nearly eight-year investigation into Syracuse University, which detailed numerous cases of academic fraud and impermissible academic assistance.

The investigation does not involve any current student-athletes, and dates back to 2007 when SU self-reported possible violations within the athletics department. Academic violations detailed in the report involve athletes receiving impermissible assistance from tutors and mentors. The violations mainly involved the men’s basketball team, but also included football.

One instance of academic fraud came from 2005-06, when three football students received academic credit for misrepresented work. A part-time tutor and three football students violated rules when the tutor certified that the students completed the required number of hours for an internship, and gave the professor information about the activities performed by students. In reality, the tutor had limited knowledge of the activities completed, according to the report.

Another example came in January 2012, when two staff members completed coursework for a men’s basketball student in order to restore the eligibility of the player. The improper academic assistance came while the school was under investigation for other potential violations, and after the NCAA denied an eligibility waiver for the student, according to the report.

The report also details an instance when, from 2010-12, three men’s basketball students received impermissible academic assistance. A support service mentor and a support services tutor made revisions and created or wrote assignments for the basketball students.

In that particular case, the report noted that the university determined academic misconduct did not occur. However, the NCAA said revising or writing academic coursework for students was not the intent of the student-athlete support services provided by SU, and exceeded the type of support generally available through the program.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions wrote in its report that the improper institutional involvement and benefits violate “the most fundamental core values of the NCAA and higher education.”

“The behavior in this case,” the report continued, “which placed the desire to achieve success on the basketball court over academic integrity, demonstrated clearly misplaced institutional priorities.”

Published on March 6, 2015 at 2:08 pm

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