NCAA puts Kentucky on 3 years' probation

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) The NCAA put Kentucky on three years&#39; probation Thursday for violations by the school&#39;s football program and said it effectively banned former recruiting coordinator Claude Bassett from working at an NCAA school for the next eight years. <br> <br> In finding a lack of institutional control against Kentucky, the NCAA said it was ``troubled by the widespread nature of the undetected violations in time, frequency and the number of individuals who would have some knowledge that the activities were improper and failed to report them to the proper authorities.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The NCAA also cut the number of scholarships Kentucky will be permitted to award, and banned the Wildcats from a bowl game following the 2002 season. With a 2-9 overall record and a 1-7 Southeastern Conference mark this past season, however, the Wildcats would have needed a dramatic turnaround to be considered for a bowl. <br> <br> The school had admitted more than three dozen violations that occurred from 1998 to 2000, many of them committed by Bassett. <br> <br> ``In fact, this was one of the more serious cases heard by the committee (on infractions) in recent years in terms of the scope and breadth of the violations,&#39;&#39; the NCAA said in its report. <br> <br> The NCAA said more than $7,000 was spent by Kentucky, primarily through Bassett, for improper recruiting or gifts of money to high-school coaches and prospects. <br> <br> All the violations were committed during the tenure of former coach Hal Mumme, who resigned under pressure last February. Mumme was charged with failure to monitor the program, but was not hit with any individual sanctions. <br> <br> Bassett was found in violation of ethical conduct bylaws and received a show-cause order, which means any NCAA institution that wishes to hire Bassett during that period would have to demonstrate to the committee why it should not be penalized if it hired Bassett. <br> <br> Mumme resigned amid the turbulence of an internal investigation by Kentucky into allegations of wrongdoing in the football program. <br> <br> The probe began in November 2000 and intensified the following month when a Louisville newspaper published copies of $1,400 in money orders sent from Bassett to the coach of a Memphis, Tenn., high school where the Wildcats were courting recruits. <br> <br> Mumme reached a $1 million settlement with Kentucky to end his contract and still lives in Lexington. <br> <br> He didn&#39;t coach during the 2001 season but has said he wants to do so again. <br> <br> The committee said Mumme failed to adequately oversee the program because he did not closely monitor Bassett&#39;s activities even after being told on three occasions about possible rules violations. <br> <br> The NCAA report said Mumme disputed the findings, claiming he should not have been charged with monitoring responsibilities. The NCAA committee on infractions rejected that contention, saying head coaches can be responsible for failure to monitor their assistants. <br> <br> Violations outlined in the report include: <br> <br> the money orders, sent to Memphis (Tenn.) Melrose High School coach Tim Thompson; <br> <br> academic fraud for completing or assisting in course work for student-athletes during study halls Bassett monitored; <br> <br> providing free hotel rooms, meals and apparel to recruits and coaches on numerous visits. <br> <br> When Kentucky submitted the results of its own investigation to the NCAA in March, it self-imposed a number of penalties it hoped the organization would follow in issuing its sanctions. Those included: <br> <br> a reduction in the number of initial scholarships from the normal limit of 25 to 16 in 2002-03, 18 in 2003-04 and 22 in 2004-05; <br> <br> a reduction in the 56 permissible recruiting visits to 36 in 2001-02 and 40 in 2002-03; <br> <br> a reduction in the number of coaches permitted to recruit off-campus in a given week, from seven to six for the next two seasons. <br> <br> Bassett, now a high school at Robstown (Texas) High School, told a Lexington radio station Wednesday the eight-year show cause order likely ended his hopes of ever coaching at the collegiate level. <br> <br> In a statement issued through his attorney, Bassett said he planned to appeal the show cause order and several of the individual allegations against him. <br> <br> ``Though Coach Bassett readily admits to wrongdoing, he denies many of the charges against him outright,&#39;&#39; the release said. ``The coach feels that he deserves to be punished for only those actions which violated NCAA regulations.&#39;&#39;

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