Perhaps someone in the NCAA has wised up when it comes to the sanctions levied against the Boise State football program.
As you’ll recall from last year, BSU’s athletic program was accused of myriad violations ranging over multiple sports, including some secondary violations for “impermissible benefits” received by incoming members of the football team. As a result, the Broncos were stripped of nine scholarships over three years and given reductions in spring and preseason practices.
The nearly $5,000 in “benefits” received by 63 players from 2005-09 included “impermissible housing, transportation or meals, where an incoming student-athlete was provided a place to sleep (often on a couch or floor), a car ride or was provided free food by an existing student-athlete.”
(Boise State: makin’ it raaaaaaaiiiiinnnnnnnnnn)
Nearly one year later, the NCAA’s Division I Infractions Appeals Committee has instructed the Committee on Infractions to reconsider the scholarship sanctions handed down, according to the Idaho Statesman. Boise State appealed the NCAA’s decision last September.
“Boise State contends that these penalties are excessive such that they constitute abuses of discretion in the situation presented by the case,” the school’s appeal said. “… The Committee improperly increased the self-imposed football grant-in-aid restrictions ... even though the penalty is not warranted and is inconsistent with precedent and the circumstances of this case.”
The appeals committee added that prior precedent “should have been more fully weighed and considered” when it came to the scholarship penalties.
Boise State self-imposed a three-scholarship reduction, effective last season, though the NCAA ultimately added six more that amount. The penalties related to practice time reductions for spring ball were upheld; the reductions for preseason practices were not appealed by the school.