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NCAA: UCLA committed recruiting violations in women’s cross-country, track and field programs

By
Massillon Myers, NCAA

UCLA has reached an agreement with NCAA enforcement staff on alleged recruiting violations that occurred within the women's cross country and track and field programs. A Committee on Infractions panel has approved the agreement.

A former assistant cross country and track and field coach has disputed the violations in this agreement and will resolve his portion of the case through a separate hearing.

The agreed-upon violations occurred over several months and include impermissible communications, primarily with parents of student-athletes at other schools who were not in the NCAA Transfer Portal. The school fully cooperated with the investigation and worked collaboratively with the NCAA enforcement staff to bring the matter to a timely resolution.

The committee will not discuss further details in the case to protect the integrity of the ongoing process, as the committee's final decision — including potential violations and penalties for the former assistant coach — is still pending.

By separating the cases, the Division I Committee on Infractions publicly acknowledges the infractions case and permits the school to immediately begin serving its penalties while awaiting the committee's final decision.

The agreed-upon penalties in this case include one year of probation, a $5,000 fine and recruiting restrictions, which are all in alignment with the agreed-upon Level II-mitigated classification for UCLA. Additionally, team records will be vacated from all regular-season and postseason competitions in which the involved athletes were ineligible.

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