Thirty months into the Name, Image and Likeness era, the NCAA is finally dropping the hammer.
The association issued the most severe and unprecedented sanction handed down in its first two-and-a-half years against the Florida State football team, a booster and assistant coach who is part of the NIL Collective, for NIL-related player recruiting violations. imposes serious penalties. NIL’s. People familiar with the ruling and penalties spoke to Yahoo Sports on condition of anonymity.
The sanctions are wide-ranging, relate to the spring 2022 freshman event, and are part of a resolution negotiated between the school and the NCAA.
Florida State assistant coach and offensive coordinator Alex Atkins was found to have committed two Level II violations, including impermissible recruiting activities and facilitating impermissible contact with NIL-related boosters. Atkins is suspected of driving prospective students and their parents to meetings with key members of the school’s NIL group, Rising Spear.
During that conference, boosters encouraged students to attend Florida State University and offered them NIL opportunities worth about $15,000 per month during their first year at the school, according to the NCAA.
As part of his penalty, Atkins will be suspended for the first three games of the 2024 regular season and given a two-year show cause. The show cause requires schools that hire Atkins to explain their decisions to NCAA officials. Atkins will remain on FSU’s staff in his current role.
This is the first of its kind in the NIL era, and schools will have to terminate their relationship with the NIL collective representative after a three-year term. The school will also have to stay out of the NIL group for one year. As part of the dissolution, FSU will not be able to accept assistance from the collective, and the collective will not be able to contribute to the athletic program in any way. However, the organization is free to continue working with FSU athletes in his NIL efforts.
Other penalties confirmed by the NCAA on Thursday include:
– 2 years trial period.
– Your scholarship will be reduced by 5% over the next two academic years.
– Official recruitment visits will decrease by 7 from 2023 to 2024.
– Ban on recruitment communications for six weeks over the next two academic years, including next week (January 12-18).
– Prohibition of communication with players in the transfer portal from April 15th to 21st.
– Evaluation days decreased by 18 days this spring.
– Financial penalty of 1% of the sports department’s budget.
NCAA rules regarding NIL are vague. The association only has an interim NIL policy that provides guidance for the program. This policy is continually changing in this evolving landscape of athlete compensation.
In fact, the organization adopted new guidance on NILs this week, but those changes do not apply retroactively. The organization also adopted new recommendations Thursday that allow schools to communicate more with the collective and facilitate transactions with registered athletes.
The NCAA sanctions are the latest issue to thrust FSU into the news cycle.
The Seminoles were eliminated from the College Football Playoff this season for the first time as undefeated Power Five champions, prompting backlash from Florida politicians and legal challenges. Two weeks after the CFP’s decision, FSU filed a lawsuit challenging the ACC’s entitlement, the first significant step toward leaving the conference.
Meanwhile, program coach Mike Norvell is among a small group of coaches considered to be serious candidates in the University of Alabama’s coaching search following the sudden retirement of Nick Saban on Wednesday. There is only one person. It’s unclear how the NCAA’s investigation into Florida State will affect Norvell’s candidacy. He is not expected to face any individual sanctions.
Florida officials declined to comment Thursday. NCAA officials also declined to comment on the NCAA tournament being held in Phoenix. However, leaders of the NCAA’s enforcement staff addressed common NIL-related rule violations during a Thursday morning session after the tournament.
Mark Hicks, the NCAA’s executive managing director of development, told a group of administrators that the association is focused on “tampering and inducement” related to NIL and evidence that recruiting rules are being violated. He said he has. The NCAA maintains screenshots of text messages from current head coaches sent directly to players playing for other college teams to encourage them to transfer.
Hicks said the coaching staff similarly reaches out to college players’ high school coaches as intermediaries. The college coach sent a message to the high school coach saying, “If you go up to Johnny and ask him to come into the portal, we’ll be interested in him!”
Athletes also do it.
“Student-athletes have approached their coaches and said, ‘I’m thinking about entering the portal. Are you interested?'” Hicks said.
Hicks said NCAA officials are figuring out new ways for colleges to attract athletes to campus, including cash, apartment leases, cars and transportation for families to visit campus. This includes providing a combination of the following.
However, many university athletic association officials are dissatisfied with the lack of violations related to NIL violations. This is his second NIL-adjacent violation case. Last spring, the NCAA imposed mostly minor sanctions related to boosters hosting Miami.
NCAA leaders often say more cases are not being pursued due to lack of evidence.
