The NCAA says it will penalize the Florida State University football program after an assistant coach and a football program booster violated NCAA rules of conduct with a prospective student.
In a Friday release, the NCAA said an assistant coach at Florida State transported a prospective student and his parents to an off-campus meeting with a booster, who encouraged the prospect to enroll at Florida State and offered them a name, image and likeness deal — which allows college athletes to profit from their personal brand. The booster also later contacted the prospective player's parents by either phone or text message.
The NCAA says rules were broken:
Boosters are usually not allowed to meet in-person and off-campus with prospective players.
Boosters cannot contact a prospective player's parents.
The NIL deal the booster offered — which would have been worth about $15,000 per month during the student's first year at school — was an "impermissible recruiting inducement."
The assistant coach "knowingly provided false or misleading information about his knowledge of and involvement in the violations" because he denied setting up the meeting between the booster and the prospect.
Nick Saban, longtime Alabama Crimson Tide football coach, is retiring
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The NCAA and Florida State have agreed to sanctions as a result of the incident:
- Two years of probation for Florida State University, during which scholarship funds will be reduced by 5%
- A fine of $5,000 plus 1% of football program budget
- A three-year disassociation from the booster, and a one-year disassociation from the NIL collective in question
- The assistant coach will be suspended from the next three regular season games, be restricted from recruiting communications for two weeks and face restricted from off-campus recruiting
- Reduction in recruiting communications and football program visits
Because the NCAA and Florida State arrived at a negotiated resolution, the outcome of the case and its penalties cannot be appealed.
