Limited immunity. You may have already heard about the term as it pertains to the NCAA investigations at Miami and Oregon.
As a refresher, limited immunity is when the NCAA allows players to act as informants for investigations in exchange for playing time. As we’ve mentioned before, the NCAA could use it with former Oregon running back Lache Seastrunk as he looks to gain immediate eligibility at Baylor.
They could also use it with the Miami scandal, where a five-month-plus investigation into the alleged benefits provided by former UM booster Nevin Shapiro to players has just started to heat up.
In fact, limited immunity may have already been employed.
Multiple sources have told Yahoo! investigative reporter Charles Robinson -- the source of incredible ire to several “U” fans right now -- that limited immunity has been used on several players connected to the allegations.
“Sources said Robert Marve (currently at Purdue), Arthur/Bryce Brown (currently at Kansas State), Matt Patchan (Florida), Andre Debose (Florida) & Orson Charles (Georgia) all “retained” eligibility. Interesting wording,” Robinson tweeted. “Charles hasn’t been accused of anything but being in Nevin Shapiro’s house. That’s a booster violation, not an athlete violation.”
As we wrote earlier this evening, eight current Miami players have reportedly been ruled ineligible by the school for their connection to Shapiro. In what capacity, if any, limited immunity is being used with the Hurricanes hasn’t been addressed yet.
By rule, if a school believes an athlete to have committed a NCAA infraction, they must declare the athlete ineligible before requesting reinstatement by the NCAA. That kind of collaboration is exactly what Miami needs to exercise if they’re going to get out of this situation relatively unscathed.
Assuming, of course, that even a portion of Shapiro’s claims hold water.
“A source framed the cooperation between Miami & NCAA in this probe as similar to North Carolina last year,” Robinson tweeted. “Tar Heels were very cooperative.”