The NCAA dropped a major hammer on former Southern Miss and Tennessee head men's basketball coach Donnie Tyndall Friday for unethical actions and failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance while he led the Golden Eagles from 2012-14.
After a thorough investigation, the NCAA concluded Tyndall did everything from pay graduate assistants to complete coursework for junior college players, lie about it and then further falsifying evidence by instructing a staff members to conjure up a document that said the payments were approved by Southern Miss. Tyndall received a 10-year show-cause penalty for his actions, among other punishments.
From ncaa.org, which did not name Tyndall in its release:
The former head coach directed members of his staff to complete fraudulent coursework for seven prospects so they could be immediately eligible to compete. The activity began within six weeks of the former head coach starting at the university, involved the majority of the former coach’s staff and involved approximately half of the prospects the university recruited during a two-year period. The former head coach directed two graduate assistants and a former assistant coach to travel to two-year colleges to complete coursework for prospects.
The former head coach also facilitated cash and prepaid credit card payments to two prospects from former coaches. One former high school coach mailed the money directly to the former head coach, who would then deliver the money to the student-athlete for university bills. The former head coach stated that he discussed the arrangement with the compliance director; however, the compliance director did not recall this discussion. A year later, the former head coach used a similar arrangement for the second student-athlete and his prep school coach. He did not check with compliance to ask if the arrangement would break NCAA rules. The former prep school coach was employed by an NCAA school at the time of the investigation and did not provide certain information when requested by investigators, contrary to NCAA rules.
In order to disrupt the investigation, the former head coach instructed a staff member to fabricate a document purportedly showing that the university approved the payments from the student-athletes’ former coaches. The former coach used this document to justify his facilitation of the payments, without noting that it had been created more than two years after he stated it was.
Tyndall deleted relevant emails to hide them from investigators and provided misleading information to the media and his higher ups when pressed on the matter. Tennessee hired Tyndall in April 2014 after he led the Golden Eagles to a 1st place finish in the Conference USA and quarterfinals of the NIT. The Volunteers fired him not even a year later after learning of the forthcoming sanctions from the NCAA for his time at Southern Miss.
The list of penalties dropped on Southern Miss:
- A three-year probation period to run consecutive to the present probation period. The three-year period will begin on Jan. 30, 2017, and run through Jan. 29, 2020.
- A two-year postseason ban for the men’s basketball team. The school will be credited for the self-imposed postseason bans during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
- A 10-year show-cause order for Tyndall from April 8, 2016, through April 7, 2026. During that period, if the Tyndall is employed by an NCAA school, he must be suspended by the employing school from all coaching duties. Following that period, any NCAA school that hires Tyndall must suspend him for the first 50 percent of the first season he is employed.
- A six-year show-cause order for the graduate assistant who completed online assignments for prospects and did not appear at the hearing. The period will run from April 8, 2016, through April 7, 2022. Any NCAA school employing the graduate assistant during that time must appear with him before a Committee on Infractions panel.
- A seven-year show-cause order for the graduate assistant who completed online assignments for prospects and refused to cooperate with the investigation. The period will run from April 8, 2016, through April 7, 2023. Any NCAA school employing the graduate assistant during that time must appear with him before a Committee on Infractions panel.
- A two-year show-cause order for a prospect’s prep school coach because he was employed at an NCAA school during the investigation. The period will run from April 8, 2016, through April 7, 2018. During this period, if he is employed by an NCAA school, the former prep school coach must attend an NCAA Regional Rules Seminar each year and meet monthly with the compliance officer to review recruiting and coaching activities. Also, the school must file reports with the Office of the Committees on Infractions every six months detailing the coach’s activities.
- An eight-year show-cause order for the former associate head coach from April 8, 2016, through April 7, 2024. Any NCAA school employing the former associate head coach during that time must appear with him before a Committee on Infractions panel.
- A vacation of wins in which the men’s basketball student-athletes participated while ineligible. The university will identify the games impacted following the release of the public report.
- A reduction of five men’s basketball scholarships over the next three years. The program reduced scholarships by one during the 2014-15 season and must reduce scholarships by a total of four over the next three years (self-imposed by the university).
- A $5,000 fine plus an amount equal to 1 percent of the average total budget for the men’s basketball team over the previous three years (self-imposed by the university).
Oh and by the way, Morehead State's men's basketball program was put on two years probation in August 2010 for illicit booster activity while Tyndall was its head coach.
Maybe Tyndall will learn his lesson this time around.
