NCAA Ignores Missouri Appeal; Football, Baseball and Softball Receive Postseason Ban

The NCAA announced Tuesday that they will be upholding Missouri’s infractions in result from the tutor violations that began in 2016. The appeal to what Missouri believed were overly harsh sanctions was upheld by the committee.

The ruling comes after several long months of waiting. Missouri submitted its appeals brief to the NCAA in hopes of lessening the penalties from what they believed was the case of a rogue tutor.

The tutor at the core of the case, Yolanda Kumar, admitted in 2016 that she had violated NCAA rules and completed coursework for athletes to ensure they passed. The athletes involved were part of the football, baseball and softball team.

The tutor is no longer with the school. Missouri initiated a self-investigation as well as an assortment of self-imposed penalties. Athletic Director Jim Sterk had hoped their cooperation and self-imposed penalties would result in some leniency from the NCAA. It did not.

“Today, about 180 student-athletes who had nothing to do with the actions of one rogue part-time employee will pay a steep price,” MU Chancellor Alexander Cartwright and Sterk said in a statement. “NCAA enforcement officials noted that prior to the violation the university employed a robust institutional system to ensure rules compliance. Once the problem was known, we self-reported immediately, held individuals accountable and cooperated with the investigation in what NCAA officials described as ‘exemplary’ fashion.”

What It Means

• Three years of probation.
• A 10-year show-cause order for the former tutor. During that period, any NCAA member school employing the tutor must restrict her from any athletically related duties.
• A 2018-19 postseason ban for the baseball and softball programs.
• A 2019-20 postseason ban for the football program.
• A vacation of records in which football, baseball and softball student-athletes competed while ineligible. The university must provide a written report containing the matches impacted to the NCAA media coordination and statistics staff within 45 days of the public decision release.
• A five-percent reduction in the number of scholarships in each of the football, baseball and softball programs during the 2019-20 academic year.
• Recruiting restrictions for each of the football, baseball and softball programs during the 2019-20 academic year, including:
  • • A seven-week ban on unofficial visits.
    • A 12.5 percent reduction in official visits.
    • A seven-week ban on recruiting communications.
    • A seven-week ban on all off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations.
    • A 12.5 percent reduction in recruiting-person or evaluation days.
• A disassociation of the tutor. Details of the disassociation can be found in the public report (self-imposed by the university).
• A fine of $5,000 plus 1 percent of each of the football, baseball and softball budgets.

Missouri football had improved in each year under Odom. (Photo by columbimissourian.com).

The 2019 Missouri Tiger baseball season finished at 34-22-1 last season. Around midseason, the Tigers were ranked in the top 25. They ended up being on the fringe of a postseason berth by season’s end.

The softball team finished 35-25 and played in the Los Angeles Regional of the NCAA Tournament. They won three games – two elimination games – before losing the final game to advance to No.2 UCLA.

The football team has had a less successful season than was initially hoped for. The Tigers are 5-6 after losing five in a row. They had started the season 5-1 and ranked before a horrific losing streak.

Missouri extended then third-year head coach Barry Odom through the 2024 season after an 8-5 season last year. The Tigers are facing their rivals in Fayetteville, Arkansas this weekend against the Razorbacks. A win would have had them bowl eligible for the third year in a row.

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