TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida A&M University is facing a series of penalties after the NCAA discovered that student-athletes over an eight-year period were ineligible to compete in 12 different sports.
The NCAA said the university improperly certified 93 student-athletes in 12 sports over a six year period from 2010-11 through 2016-17.
The committee prescribed a series of penalties on FAMU, which include:
- Five years of probation.
- A self-imposed 2019-20 postseason ban for football, baseball, men’s basketball, men’s track and field, women’s basketball and volleyball.
- A vacation of records in which student-athletes competed while ineligible. The university must provide a written report containing the contests impacted to the NCAA media coordination and statistics staff within 45 days of the public decision release.
- A reduction in scholarships by 10% for each of the following programs during the 2019-20 academic year: baseball, men’s basketball, men’s track and field, women’s basketball and volleyball.
- A reduction in scholarships by 10% for the football program during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years.
- Recruiting restrictions for all sport programs during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years. The public report contains specific detail on Page 16.
- A $5,000 fine plus three percent of the total athletics budget.
Football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, volleyball and men’s indoor and outdoor track and field will be affected by the postseason ban for 2019-20. While 12 of the department’s 16 teams will be affected by the vacation of records.
Although FAMU agrees with the non-financial penalties, FAMU will consider its option to appeal the NCAA’s financial penalties.
These penalties are not in relation to their other NCAA compliance violations, in which multiple sports programs failed to meet the NCAA Progress Rate (APR) requirements.
To learn more about FAMU's sanctions and probations, click here.
