UConn Joins Big East, Immediately Slapped With a Two-Year Probation

UConn ain't making a good impression on the Big East.

About a week after reports broke that UConn planned to return to the Big East, the NCAA slapped the men's basketball program with a two-year probation for "numerous" NCAA violations under former head coach Kevin Ollie.

From the Associated Press:

The Committee on Infractions said the violations mainly stemmed from pickup games exceeding preseason limits, a video coordinator counting as a coach and resulting in more than the allowable number of coaches, and a trainer who was friends with Ollie providing free on- and off-campus training sessions to three student-athletes.

The NCAA said UConn would need to account for whoever participated in the pickup games and vacate wins based on that accounting. It was not immediately clear how that might affect the program’s 2014 national championship.

Here's the full list of sanctions:

• Reduction of scholarships next season from 13 to 12
• 1-week ban on unofficial visits during the 2018-2019 academic year and a 2-year ban in 2019-20.1-week ban on recruiting communications during the current academic year
• $5,000 fine.
• one-visit reduction from the permissible number of official visits in men’s basketball during the rolling 2018-19 and 2019-20 two-year period.
• reduction from 130 to 126 the number of allowable recruiting days

All things considered, it's not too severe and doesn't include any sort of postseason ban, but it's not what you want if you're the Big East welcoming a new member. It turned into a prodigal son situation really quick.