NCAA finds UConn committed 8 violations in men’s basketball after 15-month investigation

NCAA: 8 violations in UConn men’s basketball

STORRS, Conn. — The University of Connecticut says the NCAA has found eight violations in the school’s men’s basketball program.

The alleged violations include improper phone calls and text messages to recruits, and giving recruits improper benefits. Coach Jim Calhoun was cited Friday for failing to “promote an atmosphere of compliance.”

Calhoun, who turned 68 this month, has had several health problems. He led the Huskies to two national championships and recently signed a five-year, $13 million contract.

UConn was 18-16 last season. Calhoun took a medical leave of absence in January, missing seven games with an undisclosed condition.

The school released an infractions letter it received from the NCAA following a 15-month investigation. UConn is to appear before the governing body in October to respond.

The announcement on the Storrs campus came a day after assistant coach Patrick Sellers and director of basketball operations Beau Archibald resigned.

UConn as an institution was cited for not adequately monitoring “the conduct and administration of the men’s basketball staff in the areas of: telephone records, representatives of the institution’s athletics interests; and, complimentary admissions or discretionary tickets.”

In a written statement, the university and its athletic department declined to comment on the allegations, citing “an ongoing process” with the NCAA.

The NCAA and the school have been investigating the program since shortly after a report by Yahoo! Sports in March 2009 that former team manager Josh Nochimson helped guide basketball recruit Nate Miles to Connecticut, giving him lodging, transportation, meals and representation.

As a former team manager, Nochimson could be considered a representative of UConn’s athletic interests by the NCAA and prohibited from having contact with Miles or giving him anything of value.

Documents released by the school showed pages and pages of phone and text message correspondence between Nochimson and UConn coaches Calhoun, Tom Moore, who is now head coach at Quinnipiac, and Sellers.

Miles was expelled from UConn in October 2008 without ever playing a game for the Huskies after he was charged with violating a restraining order in a case involving a woman who claimed he assaulted her. He played during the 2008-09 season for the College of Southern Idaho, and was cut last November by the NBA Development League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce.