BATON ROUGE, LA. (AP) - LSU will take away two football scholarships and limit recruiting visits in hopes the NCAA will accept the self-imposed discipline as its mandated punishment for rules violations discovered by the school in 2009.
Last spring, LSU reported football recruiting violations that included improper telephone contact, transportation and housing involving a former assistant coach and player.
The initial probe, which began in the fall of 2009, centered around former wide receivers coach D.J. McCarthy, who resigned late last season, and defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, a junior college transfer who never played during his only season and has since left LSU.
“LSU took quick and thorough action when we discovered these violations and we are hopeful the NCAA will ultimately agree with our assessment of this case,” LSU Chancellor Michael Martin said.
The scholarship reduction applies to the 2011-12 class and the reduction in official visits applies to the current academic year.
During the investigation, LSU discovered additional violations such as improper telephone calls between administrators in the football program, who were not coaches, and recruits, their parents or high school coaches.
The additional violations ware detailed in a report submitted to both the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference this past October.
“Our compliance office discovered additional violations during the course of this investigation and took immediate corrective measures to ensure they would not occur again, which is what a good compliance office is supposed to do,” Athletic Director Joe Alleva said. “I am disappointed that these violations took place, but I am proud of the way that LSU reacted to the situation. We now stand ready to assist the NCAA in the completion of this process.”
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