The 2011 University of Miami athletics scandal was a

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

athletics scandal involving the university's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and men's basketball programs between 2002 and 2010. As part of the scandal, these two University of Miami programs were investigated for alleged violations of

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) rules violations, including improper benefits given by University of Miami

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Nevin Shapiro Nevin Karey Shapiro (born April 13, 1969) is a convicted felon who currently is imprisoned for orchestrating a $930 million Ponzi scheme. According to interviews, he engaged in rampant violations of NCAA rules over eight years as a booster for U ...

. The story was first reported by investigative reporters at

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Past scandals

The

and its

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

were the subject of a number of past scandals. In 1994, ''

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.2 Live Crew 2 Live Crew is an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida, which had its greatest commercial success from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The group's most well-known line up was composed of Luke Campbell, Fresh Kid Ice, Mr. Mixx, and ...

member

Uncle Luke Luther Roderick Campbell (born December 22, 1960), also known as Luke Skyywalker, Uncle Luke and simply Luke, is an American rapper, promoter, record executive, actor, and former leader of the rap group 2 Live Crew. He also starred in a short- ...

and several NFL players had offered a " pay-for-play" scheme from 1986 through 1992, giving cash rewards to University Miami players for acts such as scoring touchdowns and big hits. This allegation was verified in a subsequent NCAA investigation, which also found that the University of Miami's "head football coach and the associate director of athletics for compliance and internal operations were aware" of the payments. In 1994, former University of Miami academic advisor Tony Russell pleaded guilty to helping 57 football players and more than 23 other scholarship athletes falsify applications for

Pell Grants A Pell Grant is a subsidy the U.S. federal government provides for students who need it to pay for college. Federal Pell Grants are limited to students with financial need, who have not earned their first bachelor's degree, or who are enrolled i ...

. From 1989 to 1992, Russell had helped players receive more than $220,000 of fraudulent grants, which federal officials later called "perhaps the largest centralized fraud ever committed" against the

Pell Grant A Pell Grant is a subsidy the U.S. federal government provides for students who need it to pay for college. Federal Pell Grants are limited to students with financial need, who have not earned their first bachelor's degree, or who are enrolled i ...

program. As a result of the scandal, Alexander Wolff wrote a ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'' cover story suggesting Miami should temporarily shutter its football program and that athletic director

Paul Dee Paul T. Dee (January 6, 1947 – May 12, 2012) was general counsel and athletic director of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. He held the position of University of Miami athletic director from 1993 until 2008. Early life and educa ...

should be fired. In 1995, the NCAA announced that the University of Miami had provided or allowed "more than $412,000 of excessive aid" to student-athletes between 1990 and 1994, failed to implement its drug testing program, and lost institutional control over the football program. That December, the NCAA announced that the University of Miami's multiple infractions would result in severe sanctions, including a one-year ban from postseason play and a 31-scholarship reduction between 1996 to 1999. In addition to the football team, violations also involved the University of Miami's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, men's tennis, and women's golf teams.

Nevin Shapiro

Much of the 2011

athletics scandal involved acts by

, a University of Miami booster and fan. Some time between 1999 and 2003, under cover of a grocery business called Capitol Investments USA, Shapiro operated a $930 million

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...

, which eventually collapsed in November 2009. On April 21, 2010, Shapiro was charged in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

with

securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in lo ...

and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdicti ...

, and he pleaded guilty to one count of each on September 15, 2010. On June 7, 2011, he was sentenced to twenty years in federal prison and ordered to make $82,657,362.29 in restitution.

Axcess Sports

In 2002, Shapiro paid $1.5 million for thirty percent in a sports management company called Axcess Sports, which had been started by

Michael Huyghue Michael L. Huyghue (born September 21, 1961; pronounced "hewg") is a sports lawyer and businessman and former commissioner of the United Football League, having served in that capacity since the league's founding in 2007. He was previously a memb ...

. The agency signed several

athletes, including

Vince Wilfork Vincent Lamar Wilfork (born November 4, 1981) is a former American football nose tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the University of Mi ...

. Shapiro was a major

of Miami's athletic programs, and reportedly spent $2 million from 2002 to 2010 in support of the football and men's basketball teams. In August 2010, Shapiro told ''

Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in ...

On August 16, 2011,

writer Charles Robinson published an article based on 100 hours of jailhouse interviews with Shapiro, detailing his allegations regarding his illegal and unethical behaviors and lack of oversight in the University of Miami athletics department.

Allegations

Shapiro allegedly used investor funds to finance donations to the

's athletic program and claimed that he gave an estimated $2 million in prohibited benefits to at least 72 current or former University of Miami football and basketball players and coaches from 2002 to 2010.

alleged that Shapiro, through his donations, violated at least four major NCAA bylaws: * Bylaw 11, involving impermissible compensation to coaches; * Bylaw 12, involving amateurism of athletes; * Bylaw 13, involving improper recruiting activity; and * Bylaw 16, involving extra benefits to athletes. Shapiro saw his involvement as a direct continuation of

Luther Campbell Luther Roderick Campbell (born December 22, 1960), also known as Luke Skyywalker, Uncle Luke and simply Luke, is an American rapper, promoter, record executive, actor, and former leader of the rap group 2 Live Crew. He also starred in a short ...

, telling Yahoo! Sports, "Here’s the thing: Luther Campbell was the first uncle who took care of players before I got going. His role was diminished by the NCAA and the school, and someone needed to pick up that mantle. That someone was me. He was ‘Uncle Luke,’ and I became ‘Little Luke’."

NCAA sanctions on players

On August 25, 2011, media reports indicated that the

had declared as many as thirteen current football players ineligible, including projected starting quarterback

Jacory Harris Jacory Sherrod Harris (born May 12, 1990) is a former Canadian football quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and a current firefighter in Miami for the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department. Harris started ...

, as a result of the investigation. The University Miami then petitioned the NCAA for reinstatement of at least some of the players involved. The following day, head coach

Al Golden Alfred James Golden Jr. (born July 4, 1969) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He is a former head coach at Temple from 2006 to 2010. He has also served for five years as defensive c ...

confirmed these reports, though did not name any players or indicate the number of reinstatements sought. The University of Miami began the process in hopes that the NCAA would make its decisions on all players before their season opener at

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

on September 5, 2011. On August 30, 2011, the NCAA announced results of the University of Miami's petition, clearing one named player, Marcus Robinson, but finding that the other twelve had received impermissible benefits. All of these players were suspended from play until they made restitution. Four found to have received less than $100 were not suspended and were eligible to play once certified as having completed restitution requirements. In total, University of Miami players repaid about $4,000 in restitution with the greatest single amount being $1,200. The three who drew the longest suspensions accepted gifts from Shapiro during their recruitment and had received the greatest amount of improper benefits among the group. The NCAA announced the following penalties on University of Miami players implicated in the scandal: * One game suspension:

Travis Benjamin Travis Jayvinski Benjamin (born December 29, 1989) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at the University of Miami. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draf ...

Marcus Forston Marcus Forston (born September 28, 1989) is an American football defensive tackle who is currently a free agent. Forston was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He played college football for the University o ...

, Jacory Harris, Adewale Ojomo, and

Sean Spence Sean Ryan Christopher Spence (born June 7, 1990) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami, where he was n ...

* Four game suspension: Ray-Ray Armstrong and Dyron Dye * Six game suspension:

Olivier Vernon Olivier Alexander Vernon (born October 7, 1990) is an American football defensive end and outside linebacker who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft and has also played for the New York G ...

NCAA sanctions on coaches

On October 22, 2013, the NCAA announced its sanctions against the

and four former coaches, alleging "a lack of institutional control in the poorly monitored activities of a major booster, the men's basketball and football coaching staffs, student-athletes and prospects." The NCAA sanctions included three years of probation for the entire University of Miami athletic program, an end to the post season ban on the University of Miami football team, the loss of nine football scholarships over the 2014, 2015, and 2016 seasons, prohibiting players on unofficial visits from receiving more than one complimentary ticket to University of Miami home football games in 2014 and 2015, the loss of one men's basketball scholarship for the 2014–15, 2015–16, and 2016–17 seasons, suspension of men's basketball coach Frank Haith for the first five games of the 2013–14 season, and a two-year

show-cause penalty In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a show-cause penalty is an administrative punishment ordering that any NCAA penalties imposed on a coach found to have committed major rules violations will stay in effect against that coach fo ...

for three University of Miami assistant coaches Aubrey Hill (football), Clint Hurtt (football), and Jorge Fernández (men's basketball).

Reactions

Due to the nature of the allegations and the prominence of the

football program team and the history of scandals surrounding the program, reactions to the expose were rapid.

, who served as University of Miami

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

from 1993 through 2008, a period including both the current scandal and violations uncovered from 1995, was a recipient of heavy criticism. ''

''s Stewart Mandel described Dee's involvement as follows:

Dee, you may recall, was the Committee on Infractions chairman for USC's much-publicized case last summer involving former stars
Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is an American former football running back who now serves as an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twi ...
and O. J. Mayo. It was Dee who, in announcing some of the stiffest penalties of the last 20 years (a two-year bowl ban and 30 docked scholarships), closed with the preachy reminder that "high-profile athletes demand high-profile compliance". Dee, Miami's AD during most of the period covering Shapiro's allegations, is retired and no longer under NCAA jurisdiction. Still, it seems only fair he should spend a day at USC's Heritage Hall wearing a sandwich board with the word "Hypocrite."

According to NCAA president Mark Emmert, the NCAA began investigating the University of Miami football program "four or five months" prior to media coverage of the scandal, and NCAA investigators conducted multiple interviews with Shapiro. Many sportswriters, including Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel of

, speculated that if the allegations were found to be true, that the University of Miami could face the NCAA's " death penalty," which was last given to a major program in 1987 when

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

's football season was cancelled. On November 20, 2011, the University of Miami announced that it was withdrawing from bowl consideration for the 2011 season due to the ongoing NCAA probe. In 2012, with the NCAA yet to announce its findings as the end of the 2012 season approached, the University of Miami again chose to withdraw from postseason play, giving up a berth in the ACC Championship Game. On February 19, 2013, the University of Miami received a notice of allegations from the NCAA.