NCAA Hits Clemson on Recruiting Violations

COLUMBIA, S.C. —  Clemson coaches are accused of more than 12 illegal recruiting contacts and of giving players money and encouraging boosters to do likewise from 1984 to 1988, according to an NCAA report released today.

In making the report public just four days after receiving it, the school removed all references that might allow those named in the 15-page document to be identified.

Clemson President Max Lennon said in a statement accompanying the report that the school will “take all appropriate steps to protect the integrity of the university” in wake of the allegations. Lennon was at the NCAA convention in Dallas and could not be reached immediately for comment.

If Clemson is found guilty of the violations levied by the NCAA, the school could be placed on probation for the second time in less than 10 years. The NCAA slapped Clemson with two years’ probation in November, 1982, for 70 violations that occurred between 1976 and 1982 under coaches Charlie Pell and Danny Ford, who was named head coach in December, 1978.

The NCAA has charged the Atlantic Coast Conference school with 14 alleged rules violations, with the most serious being cash payments of $15 to $150 to players and recruits by both coaches and boosters and illegal contacts with recruits.

In the most damaging recruiting allegation, the NCAA said that from November, 1984, to September, 1987, six coaches made 11 illegal recruiting contacts, including four to high school juniors and one sophomore.

The NCAA does not allow in-person recruiting by colleges until players have completed the junior year in high school.

The NCAA also said that on at least two occasions during the fall of 1985, a coach gave a player $50 to $150 and told him to distribute the money to “selected” players.

And twice in the spring of 1987, a “representative of the university’s athletic interests”--probably a booster--gave $50 to two athletes for their personal use, the report said.

Three coaches also are charged with contacting two recruits more than the three times allowed by NCAA regulations, the report said.

The NCAA also questioned the financial aid provided a Clemson player during the 1988 spring semester after the athlete’s eligibility had run out. The NCAA said the player’s financial aid exceeded the value of his scholarship because of his part-time work at a Clemson business, where he earned about $200 each month. The report does not say how many months the player worked at the business.