CORAL GABLES, Fla. — After nearly two years, the NCAA has finally announced some of the wrongdoing discovered during the investigation of Miami’s athletic compliance practices.
The alleged rule-breakers: Former NCAA employees.
NCAA President Mark Emmert revealed Wednesday that the Miami investigation is on hold after the governing body for college sports in this country discovered “a very severe issue of improper conduct" — specifically that the attorney for former booster and convicted Ponzi scheme architect Nevin Shapiro was used “to improperly obtain information ... through a bankruptcy proceeding that did not involve the NCAA."
The NCAA does not have subpoena power. At least one of the people deposed by attorney Maria Elena Perez as part of Shapiro’s bankruptcy case appeared under subpoena, and his testimony would not have been otherwise available to NCAA investigators. The investigators who were involved are no longer with the NCAA, Emmert said.
“How in the world can you get this far without it being recognized that this was an inappropriate way to proceed?" Emmert asked.
That’s the question that the NCAA wants answered, and fast. Miami has been bracing for the arrival of its notice of allegations — the charges it will have to defend itself against during the sanctioning phase of the NCAA probe. Those allegations are now on hold until an outside review of the NCAA’s procedures, specifically in this case, are completed.
— The Associated Press