Records: Michigan State football reports 11 NCAA secondary violations since 2013

EAST LANSING – Michigan State’s football coaching staff was prohibited from calling recruits three times during 2016 due to NCAA violations, according to documents obtained by the Free Press via a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Spartans football program reported 11 secondary violations since Aug. 1, 2013, all deemed “Level III” infractions. None of them were considered significant in nature, and they display the winding maze the NCAA rule book can be for coaches and administrators.

Three of MSU’s violations involved Curtis Blackwell, the football program’s former director of college advancement and performance. One was due to an improper retweet in 2013, one involved the recruiting staff purchasing and selling shirts to recruits and their families before the Oregon game in 2015, and the third was an improper call to a recruit that same year.

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“Michigan State is committed to maintaining a culture of compliance with all NCAA rules and regulations,” athletic director Mark Hollis said. “We report and investigate everything of which we are made aware, and our entire staff undergoes extensive rules education, including the understanding that nothing is too minor to bring forward.

“With a complex and evolving rulebook, secondary violations sometimes occur. Ideally, you would want to not have any violations, but in reality, having nothing to report would just be a result of a staff not committed to compliance.”

Coach Mark Dantonio did not renew Blackwell’s contract in May after two one-month extensions. Michigan State University Police said Blackwell was led out of the Duffy Daugherty football building in handcuffs after being interviewed on Feb. 8. He was suspended with pay by the university a day later, the same day now-former players Josh King, Donnie Corley and Demetric Vance were suspended for their role in an alleged sexual assault that occurred in the morning hours of Jan. 16.

Blackwell was hired Aug. 1, 2013, the same day the current NCAA violation structure went into effect.

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The NCAA defines Level III violations as a “breach of conduct” that are “isolated or limited in nature; provide no more than a minimal recruiting, competitive or other advantage; and do not include more than a minimal impermissible benefit.”

Multiple Level III cases can be considered for a “significant breech of conduct” violation. Level II cases include “failure to monitor” and “systemic violations that do not amount to a lack of institutional control,” according to the NCAA.

Dantonio was directly part of two of the violations, both of which involved multiple calls to a recruit in the same week by Dantonio and one of his assistants.

Another violation occurred on the field at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 2014, when an assistant called a recruit during warmups. MSU coaches were restricted from calling prospects for a week.

It also was the first of two violations that occurred during bowl preparation. In December 2015, MSU gave players $26 in meal per diem on the same day they had food brought to them as they were preparing for the College Football Playoff.  The violation was discovered three months later by the business office. Players were forced to return the money, which was then donated to charity.

In 2016, MSU had three phone call-related NCAA cases involving six recruits. Coaches were prohibited from calling any players for a two-week period for the first violation and a three-week period for the second. The third involved one player who was not contacted for two weeks after it was permissible to contact him again.

Here is what happened with the 11 violations, what actions and punishment were taken and when the NCAA issued its ruling on the cases:

VIOLATION (secondary/Level III)

DECISION DATE: Dec. 9, 2013

WHAT HAPPENED: Newly hired Curtis Blackwell, who was MSU’s director of college advancement and performance at the time, posted a link on his Twitter account to an article that contained names of recruits who had not yet committed. MSU’s compliance office discovered the violation.

ACTION: Blackwell removed the tweet, and MSU’s compliance staff was ordered to provide rules education for the athletic department. The Big Ten took no action, but “this matter may be reviewed at a later date.”

PUNISHMENT: No further NCAA punishment was issued.

VIOLATION (secondary/Level III)

DECISION DATE: Aug. 27, 2014

WHAT HAPPENED: Football coaching staff members “posted comments on their social networking website” about two recruits who had not yet committed to MSU. However, two unnamed assistant coaches and director of football operations Tim Allen retweeted tweets from media and other users on Feb. 5, 2015, about the first recruit, believing the player had submitted his signed National Letter of Intent. Then, on May 31, 2014, one of those assistants retweeted a message from a Twitter user with a link to an article about a 2015 recruit that included information about the player’s unofficial visit to MSU. Violations were discovered by MSU’s compliance staff that day.

ACTION: The “impermissible posts” were removed from the staff members’ Twitter accounts, and MSU’s compliance office planned to continue educating coaches on what was and was not permissible on social media. Many of those rules have since been changed by the NCAA. It was reported to the Big Ten.

PUNISHMENT: No further NCAA punishment was issued.

VIOLATION (secondary/Level III)

DECISION DATE: Sept. 16, 2014

WHAT HAPPENED: Prior to MSU’s Rose Bowl game against Stanford on Jan. 1, 2014, an unnamed assistant coach called a recruit for less than 2 minutes during warmups. The assistant believed it was permissible up until kickoff.

ACTION: MSU argued that no recruiting advantage was gained.

PUNISHMENT: MSU was required to prohibit the football coaching staff from calling any recruits for a week.

VIOLATION (secondary/Level III)

DECISION DATE: Nov. 17, 2014

WHAT HAPPENED: An assistant coach had impermissible in-person contact off campus with a junior recruit at his high school during an evaluation period. The high school coach brought the player with him to meet the unnamed MSU assistant, shook hands with the coach, and the assistant coach allowed the recruit to try on his bowl ring before the player left for track practice. No violation date was given.

ACTION: The violation was counted as one of the six permissible off-campus recruiting contact opportunities, and MSU self-imposed a penalty that reduced that total to just three contact opportunities.

PUNISHMENT: No further NCAA punishment was issued.

VIOLATION (secondary/Level III)

DECISION DATE: Feb. 17, 2015

WHAT HAPPENED: An assistant coach “observed and participated in recreational activities with a prospective student-athlete during an unofficial visit.” The date of the incident was not given, and a large segment was redacted by the university. However, a MLive.com story in June 2015 showed the violation was because co-defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett participated in a one-on-one basketball game with Khari Willis on Aug. 7, 2014. Barnett tore his Achilles tendon while playing. Barnett “believed that since the activities were not pre-planned or an organized event it would not constitute a violation of tryout legislation.”

ACTION: MSU held a review of the NCAA’s tryout legislation on Feb. 11, 2015. A letter of admonishment also was issued.

PUNISHMENT: No further NCAA punishment was issued.

VIOLATION (secondary/Level III)

DECISION DATE: Feb. 29, 2016

WHAT HAPPENED: The football recruiting staff allowed recruits and their families to purchase apparel “in a manner not available to the general public” for a home game against Oregon on Sept. 12, 2015, when the Spartans wore bronze uniforms. The recruiting staff purchased T-shirts from a local vendor valued at $10 and sold them to recruits and families for $10. The recruiting staff “believed that since the T-shirts were being sold for retail value it would not constitute a violation.” The violation was discovered that day by MSU compliance staff saw the recruits wearing them.

ACTION: The football staff was given a rules education session on that topic. MSU’s football recruiting staff also were to attend that, as well as receive a separate session. Future purchase orders for the recruiting staff also were to be generated by Tim Allen, the assistant athletic director for football operations.

PUNISHMENT: No further NCAA punishment was issued, but MSU was notified that similar violations in the future “may result in additional recruiting penalties.”

VIOLATION (secondary/Level III)

DECISION DATE: April 13, 2016

WHAT HAPPENED: Members of the MSU football team received $26 in excess for a meal during preparation for their College Football Playoff semifinal game against Alabama. The football office requested the meal service “a few weeks in advance” of Dec. 18, then requested a per diem for a number of meals that resulted in “extra” cash. The business office discovered the mistake on March 21, 2016, when reviewing postseason expenses.

ACTION: The athletes who received the money were declared ineligible and charged $26. The money was donated to charity, and the players were reinstated after payment. The football department planned to ensure that per diem and service requests would be handled by the same office, and the compliance office would review requests prior to distribution of per diems.

PUNISHMENT: No further NCAA punishment was issued.

VIOLATION (secondary/Level III)

DECISION DATE: April 5, 2016

WHAT HAPPENED: MSU had impermissible contact with two recruits. In the first incident, Blackwell made a phone call to an athlete on Sept. 9, 2015, prior to that player’s official visit. Blackwell “mistakenly believed he was able to call” the recruit five days before the visit. Those calls must be made by either the head coach or an assistant coach, according to NCAA rules. In the second incident, a recruit was called twice on Jan. 31, 2016. The assistant coach self-reported the violation after he “mistakenly thought January 31st was part of the dead period when it was permissible to phone prospects on an unlimited basis prior to signing day.”

ACTION: Football coaches were prohibited from calling recruits for a two-week period. MSU’s compliance office also continued to review telephone call legislation with the coaching staff, and “the violations were inadvertent and isolated in nature,” according to the case summary.

PUNISHMENT: No further NCAA punishment was issued.

VIOLATION (secondary/Level III)

DECISION DATE: June 22, 2016

WHAT HAPPENED: Three recruits were called more than once in a given week. The first occurred in September 2015, with a “noncoaching staff member” contacting the prospect before the player had met NCAA criteria for initiating such a phone call. The second happened in January 2016, when Dantonio called the second recruit after an assistant coach had done so earlier in the week. The third also happened in January 2016, when an assistant coach called an athlete Jan. 3 and again on Jan. 9, leaving a message.

ACTION: MSU did not allow its football coaches to call any recruits for a three-week period. The Big Ten was notified.

PUNISHMENT: No further NCAA punishment was issued.

VIOLATION (secondary/Level III)

DECISION DATE: Aug. 23, 2016

WHAT HAPPENED: A recruit was called twice during his junior year in May 2016. Coach Mark Dantonio called a recruit on May 26 and an unidentified assistant coach called the same prospect four days later. The assistant coach reported the violation to the compliance office June 7.

ACTION: The football staff did not call the recruit for a two-week period once it was permissible to call him again. The Big Ten was notified.

PUNISHMENT: No further NCAA punishment was issued.

VIOLATION (secondary/Level III)

DECISION DATE: May 31, 2017

WHAT HAPPENED: An assistant coach’s “adult child” attended a meal with a prospective student-athlete on Oct. 15, 2016. The coach believed it was permissible since the meal was on campus. Two student workers on Dec. 3, 2016 had “impermissible off-campus contact” with a second recruit when they went with an assistant coach to pick up the athlete for his official from the airport.

ACTION: The Office of Compliance Services will continue to educate the coaching staff on permissible recruiters for both instances, and the matter was sent to the Big Ten office. MSU also issued a “letter of admonishment” to the recruiting operations coordinator.

PUNISHMENT: MSU was required to eliminate two football evaluation days for prospects in 2017-18.