Last week we provided a fairly big update regarding the ongoing investigation that the NCAA is conducting into a large scale violations report against Miami. In that update, we stated that we had heard from multiple sources that the NCAA was treating this situation as a group of rogue individuals rather than punishing the University by itself, which could potentially be huge regarding the eventual sanctions.
With the apparent mentality that the NCAA has towards this investigation, it could mean that Miami skates on the dreaded Lack Of Institutional Control charge that generally ruins football programs for a while. On Monday afternoon, a CBS report by Jeff Goodman surfaced that highlighted what former hoops coach Frank Haith could stand to lose at the conclusion of this investigation.
The NCAA is expected to release a notice of allegations as early as this week regarding the Miami investigation. A source close to the situation told CBSSports.com that former Hurricanes and current Missouri basketball coach Frank Haith is expected to be charged with unethical conduct and failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance.
If Haith is indeed charged with the above, that will almost guarantee a Show Cause Order against the former coach. If he is hit with that, depending on the length of the order, it will be up to his current employer whether or not to keep him on staff. By doing so, they would run the risk of being hit with penalties themselves is Haith commits any violations while under their employ. This is great news for Miami, because it adds credence to the notion that the NCAA is going more after the individuals named in the Shapiro report rather than concentrating on Miami. While this does not mean that Miami will not get punished at all, it does mean that they will not bear the brunt of the sanctions.
Perhaps the biggest key to making that assumption is this passage in Goodman's report:
The source told CBSSports.com that the NCAA was unable to prove the allegation from Miami booster Nevin Shapiro that Haith or anyone on his staff paid $10,000 to a family member of former player DeQuan Jones. However, Haith will be charged with unethical conduct because the NCAA did not believe his story that payments to his assistants intended for camp money did not wind up going to repay Shapiro, who made the allegations to Yahoo Sports back in August of 2011. A source said that the money was delivered to Shapiro's mother -- who verified the payment to the NCAA.
The reported $10,000 payment to DeQuan Jones was by far the largest single violation in the Shapiro report, and if Goodman's source is correct, the NCAA cannot prove it, and therefore cannot rule on it. This is corroborated by the fact that Jones was suspended due to the allegation, but reinstated by the NCAA one day after a witness testified in court that the payment had not happened. If the NCAA had any reason to suspect the allegation was true, there's no reason to reinstate Jones so quickly.
We also reported in our update that Haith would not be the only former hoops coach to be targeted. According to the report, three former assistants will also be given penalties:
The source also said the three assistants previously on Haith's staff -- Jake Morton, Jorge Fernandez and Michael Schwartz -- each will receive unethical conduct charges. Morton is currently at Western Kentucky, Fernandez left Marshall after last season and Schwartz is on the Fresno State staff.
All parties named will of course have the requisite 90 day period to respond to the allegations before being given the final sanctions. Regardless of the outcome of those hearings, Canes fans should breathe a sigh of relief not only that the NCAA is taking such a stance on the investigation as a whole, but that Haith will finally be nailed for the things alleged to have happened under his tenure.