Oregon and the NCAA are in agreement that the school committed major violations, according to documents obtained by KATU.com. Payments to recruiting service provider Will Lyles is a major factor in the violations. Lyles made impermissible contact with prospective athletes.
Oregon football committed major violations, school reportedly agrees with NCAA
Oregon agreed that the school committed major violations, but there is disagreement on one point.
Representatives from the NCAA did not find a lack of insitutional control or unethical conduct, and those are the two findings that carry many of the heaviest penalties. KATU.com does point out that the incidents in the report came less than five years after other Oregon violations in 2004. That may affect the NCAA’s penalty on the school.
The documents outlining the violations were part of a potential plea deal between the two sides, but one could not be reached. Instead, Oregon will face the NCAA infractions committee later this year. The primary disagreement between the two sides came over a payment to Lyles, according to Adam Jude of The Oregonian. Jude reports that the NCAA believed the payment to be a major violation, while Oregon insisted it was a secondary offense.
Jude also points out that the school has proposed a self-imposed probation. This is a move that many universities take in hopes of limiting the penalties the NCAA hands down.
Oregon blog Addicted to Quack believes the result of the Lyles disagreement will ultimately decide the severity of penalties:
This is going to be a huge one. This is the “If the glove does/does not fit you must/must not acquit” of the case. If Oregon gets its way, this part of the case will be treated as another bullet point in the ledger of alleged violations. If the NCAA gets theirs, it becomes the lead charge – the felony leading a pack of high-level misdemeanors.
It will be up to Oregon to argue its case in front of the infractions committee. It will need to do a better job of convincing that group than it did the investigators. Otherwise, the Ducks could be facing big sanctions.
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