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What 3-year NCAA probation means for Memphis basketball, Penny Hardaway

jason munz, memphis commercial appeal
·2 min read
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The leadup to the penalty prescription phase of any NCAA investigation is seldom comfortable.

Especially when investigators purport to find multiple Level I violations. Which is just what happened on July 9, 2021. Members of the Complex Case Unit – the investigative arm of the soon-to-be-defunct Independent Accountability Resolution Process – argued that University of Memphis, men’s basketball coach Penny Hardaway and others committed at least four of the most severe violations, and several more violations that weren’t quite as severe, stretching as far back as 2011.

The IARP’s Independent Resolutions Panel disagreed. On Tuesday, it ruled four Level II and five Level III violations took place and that “the university’s leadership at the time” was primarily culpable. As a result, Memphis received a $5,000 fine, was ordered to vacate two wins in which former center James Wiseman appeared in and has been placed on probation for the next three years.

The first two penalties are fairly self-explanatory. The school must pay a $5,000 fine; the win over South Carolina State on Nov. 5, 2019 has been stricken from the school’s record, as well as Hardaway’s, who is now officially 84-49 at Memphis.

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What does Memphis basketball being on probation for the next three years – beginning Tuesday and ending Sept. 26, 2025 – entail?

  • The school is required to send at least one counsel from the university’s Office of Legal Counsel to two NCAA Regional Rules Seminars.

  • The school is required to inform any recruit taking an official visit with the Tigers and all signees during that period that it is on probation.

  • Memphis must publicize the nature of its infractions (website, media guides and other publications) and post a link to the infractions report on the athletic department’s homepage.

  • Memphis must file a final compliance report with the NCAA Office of Committees on Infractions by Sept. 30, 2025, confirming Regional Rules Seminars attendance and how the information was distributed to other members of the Office of Legal Counsel who engage with athletics.

  • Finally, prior to the conclusion of its probation, Memphis’ president is required to provide a letter to the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions affirming the university’s current athletics policies and practices conform to all NCAA requirements.

University of Memphis Public Case Decision by The Commercial Appeal on Scribd

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: What probation means for Penny Hardaway, Tigers