Alabama Basketball Hit With Three-Year Probation, Fine By NCAA

The Alabama basketball program will undergo three years of probation in addition to a $5,000 fine plus one percent of the program's budget

The NCAA ruled on Friday morning that a former Alabama associate athletics director violated the associations ethical conduct rules by receiving money in exchange for facilitating a meeting between the father of an athlete, a financial advisor and the financial advisor's representative.

The director in question, who wasn't named in NCAA report but later turned out to be Kobie Baker, resigned in 2017 following questioning from the school regarding the FBI college basketball investigation.

Former Alabama associate athletics director violated NCAA ethical conduct rules: https://t.co/6j9LtnaaJt pic.twitter.com/GxFm5fjOPN

— NCAA News (@NCAA_PR) November 20, 2020

As punishment for the committed violations, Alabama basketball will now undergo three years of probation by the NCAA, a $5,000 fine along with one percent of the basketball program's budget and a 10-year show-cause order for Baker.

No scholarships or postseason ban is included. 

Baker received $3,000 to set up the meeting with the father of the athlete, the financial advisor, and financial advisor's representative. It was revealed later that the player was former Crimson Tide guard Collin Sexton. 

“The panel applauds Alabama’s swift and decisive action once potential violations became public,” the NCAA said in its decision. “Alabama undertook proactive efforts to determine whether its institution, staff members or student-athletes were among the unnamed parties referenced in the complaint. The panel considered these actions when determining and weighing applicable mitigating factors and arriving at a Level I-Mitigated classification.”

Here is an excerpt from a statement released by the NCAA detailing the Division I Committee's decision:

"The violations were discovered as part of a broader scheme involving money and influence in college basketball that resulted in the arrest and prosecution of multiple individuals on conspiracy and bribery charges, the committee said in its decision. The behavior uncovered during the federal investigation led to significant NCAA reforms and investigations to determine whether NCAA rules were violated.

"The committee said the violations in this case were unique because they resulted from the conduct of an athletics department administrator rather than a coach. The behavior was uncovered when the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed a complaint against the financial advisor’s representative that detailed his activities with the financial advisor. Among other conduct, the initial complaint alleged that the financial advisor and his representative facilitated payments from the financial advisor to an individual later identified as the former associate athletics director at Alabama, although a superseding indictment later removed all references to the former associate athletics director. The university and NCAA enforcement staff, however, conducted a collaborative investigation to determine whether NCAA rules were violated."

You can read the NCAA's full statement here.