Notable NCAA scandals – Ex-Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arrested in November 2011 on charges that he preyed on boys he met through The Second Mile charity. In June 2012, he was convicted of 45 counts involving 10 young victims, and in October, he was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison. In July 2012, the NCAA imposed sanctions against Penn State, including a $60 million fine, scholarship reductions, the vacating of 112 wins, five years' probation and a bowl ban for four years. Click through the gallery for other notable NCAA scandals.
Notable NCAA scandals – Penn State University head football coach Joe Paterno on the sidelines during a 2004 game. Paterno's legacy was tarnished in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal. The fallout included NCAA sanctions in July 2012 that struck 111 of Paterno's 409 wins from the record book. The stripped victories stretched back to 1998 and removed Paterno's crown as winningest college football coach in history. He died of cancer in January.
Notable NCAA scandals – Head coach Jim Tressel with his Ohio State Buckeyes at the 2011 Sugar Bowl. Tressel admitted he knew several star players were trading memorabilia for cash and tattoos in violation of NCAA rules. The NCAA banned the Buckeyes from postseason play for the upcoming season, and OSU voluntarily vacated all 2010 wins. Tressel "resigned" in May 2011, a move OSU later deemed a retirement.
Notable NCAA scandals – University of Miami quarterback Jacory Harris throws a pass during a 2011game. Harris was one of 13 Hurricanes initially ruled ineligible after the NCAA began investigating allegations by Nevin Shapiro, an imprisoned former booster, that he for eight years provided 72 athletes with benefits that violated NCAA rules. Shapiro is incarcerated for running a $930 million Ponzi scheme. After Miami petitioned for the players' reinstatements, one player was vindicated, while the other 12, including Harris, were reinstated after serving suspensions and/or paying restitution. The investigation into the Shapiro scandal is ongoing.
Notable NCAA scandals – Reggie Bush of the University of Southern California carries the ball past Fresno State's Matt Davis in 2005. The NCAA announced sanctions in June 2010 against USC, finding that Bush and basketball star O.J. Mayo had received lavish gifts. Bush voluntarily forfeited his Heisman Trophy, while USC was given four years' probation, stripped of 30 scholarships and had to vacate 14 wins, including a national championship.
Notable NCAA scandals – Members of the Duke men's lacrosse team listen to the national anthem at their season opener in 2007. In 2006, members of the team hired stripper Crystal Mangum for a party, and she accused three players of raping her. The scandal forced the cancellation of the men's lacrosse season that year and the resignation of team coach Mike Pressler. The allegations later proved to be false, and prosecutor Mike Nifong was disbarred for ethics violations.
Notable NCAA scandals – The NCAA has found the University of Alabama football program in violation of its rules at least three times in the last two decades. The most notable incident came in 2000 when a booster paid a high school coach to steer a recruit to the Crimson Tide. An investigation found numerous other violations, and Alabama was placed on five years' probation, among other sanctions. In 1995, the NCAA forced Alabama to vacate wins after it learned coaches were aware one of the school's All-Americans had secretly signed with an agent, and in 2009 the university was sanctioned for misuse of its textbook distribution program by 16 athletic programs, including football.
Notable NCAA scandals – Jim Harrick Sr., then head coach of the University of Georgia Bulldogs, yells from the sidelines during the 2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Harrick resigned as UGA's head basketball coach in 2003 after his son, Jim Harrick Jr., was accused of giving an A to three basketball players who didn't attend class and paying a phone bill for one of them. The NCAA punished UGA with four years' probation, and the school was forced to vacate 30 wins from 2001-2003.
Notable NCAA scandals – Baylor University basketball player Carlton Dotson reaches for the ball against Montana State in a 2002 game. In June 2003, Baylor's Patrick Dennehy went missing. Dotson confessed to killing him and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. The NCAA later determined that Coach Dave Bliss had instructed his players to lie to investigators and tell them that Dennehy dealt drugs to cover up the coach paying thousands of dollars of Dennehy's tuition. The NCAA put the school on probation until June 2010. It also was banned from playing nonconference games for a season.
Notable NCAA scandals – Chris Webber strolls upcourt during a home game in 1993. Webber pleaded guilty in 2003 to being paid by a University of Michigan booster to launder money from an illegal gambling operation. The NCAA put the program on four years' probation and banned the team from postseason play for the 2003-04 season. Charged with lying to federal investigators, Webber pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal contempt and paid a $100,000 fine.
Notable NCAA scandals – The Southern Methodist University football team warms up in 1988, two years after a scandal broke that SMU boosters had been giving football players thousands of dollars from a slush fund with university officials' knowledge. In what was the first and last time it gave the "death penalty" to a football program, the NCAA suspended SMU from playing its 1987 season and banned it from recruiting. The school also was not allowed to play at home in the 1988 season and lost dozens of scholarships.
Notable NCAA scandals – Bill Musselman watches court action during a 1990 NBA game as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. In 1975, Musselman left as head coach of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. The NCAA later found 127 violations from his four-year tenure at the school, including direct payment to players for rent and transportation.
Notable NCAA scandals – Kentucky celebrates the 2012 national championship in April. Sixty years earlier, the NCAA opened an investigation into the University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball program, following a national championship season in which three players had been arrested in a point-shaving scandal. The subsequent probe revealed that 10 players had received impermissible financial aid. The NCAA banned the school's entire athletic program from playing for a year -- in effect, marking the advent of the so-called "death penalty," even though the penalty wasn't given the nickname until the 1980s.
