Pitt hoops, football placed on 3 years' probation by NCAA
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The University of Pittsburgh football and men's basketball programs have been placed on probation for three years by the NCAA for a series of level II violations between 2015 and 2018.
Former men's basketball coach Kevin Stallings was given a three-year show-cause order by the NCAA as part of the punishment announced Thursday. The NCAA found that Stallings - who coached at Pitt from 2016-2018 - allowed three noncoaches to perform coaching duties, meaning the school went over its allotment of practices. The NCAA also found that Stallings developed an alert system to make sure the noncoaches would not be caught on the practice floor. Stallings also ordered personnel to delete practice video to prevent the illegal practices from being discovered by the school administration.
Any school that hires Stallings, who was fired in March 2018 after going 24-41 in two seasons at Pitt, during the three-year order must have him sit out 30% of the team's games during his first season on the job. Stallings is currently out of coaching. Dan Cage, who was the director of basketball operations during the 2016-17 season, was also given a three-year show-cause order. The NCAA penalized Cage for refusing to participate in an enforcement interview about his involvement in coaching activities as a noncoaching staff member.
The NCAA also found that football coach Pat Narduzzi was present at the team's practice facility when ''three former quality control staff members performed coaching duties, resulting in the program exceeding the allowable number of permissible coaches.'' Narduzzi must sit out two days of practice next August. Narduzzi also served a one-week ban for off-campus recruiting from Dec. 1, 2019, through Feb. 1, 2020.
Pitt, which self-reported the violations, was fined $5,000 and 0.5% of the men's basketball and football budgets.
Narduzzi said in a statement that he fully recognizes his responsibility for what occurred and ''how those missteps will be corrected as we proceed forward.''
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