EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - The University of Oregon committed infractions in four athletic programs, including the men’s and women’s basketball teams, the NCAA has alleged.
Men’s coach Dana Altman and women’s coach Kelly Graves are accused of exceeding the NCAA limit of four coaches by allowing other staff members to participate in team activities during practice. Meanwhile, a professor allegedly changed a failing grade so a woman could stay on the track team.
The NCAA has labeled the violations the second-highest on its scale of four levels, The Register-Guard reported.
The university acknowledged mistakes Thursday, but said it plans to contest the severity of the infractions.
Athletic Director Rob Mullens said Oregon self-reported the violations and its coaches are committed to compliance with NCAA bylaws. He said the school has addressed the matters with the responsible employees and increased training.
Oregon received notice of the allegations Monday and has 90 days to respond. Athletic department officials are expected to later meet with the infractions committee and any penalties will be announced after that meeting.
Altman, who led the Ducks to the Final Four last season, released a statement in which he acknowledged that “some members of our staff made mistakes when it comes to refereeing practice games and working out some players.”
The allegations against the women’s program are similar, stating that an assistant strength and conditioning coach participated in individual workouts and practices. Like Altman, Graves is declared responsible for the violations by the NCAA.
“I regret that some members of my staff made errors of judgment, and I have taken actions to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” Graves said in a statement.
In addition to basketball and track, the football team was named in the allegations.
The NCAA said the infraction was a recruiting violation that occurred in 2016 when the school “created an electronic presentation that included each prospective student-athlete’s name, physical attributes and high school highlight video and displayed it on a video board located in the football performance center.”
Oregon reported that it would not contest that charge.
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