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After a 5-year investigation, the NCAA says Baylor’s actions were “unacceptable” when dealing with football players accused of sexual assault, but the program did NOT violate any rules … and therefore will avoid any major punishment.
Remember, head coach Art Briles was fired by the university in 2016 after allegedly failing to report numerous allegations of domestic violence or sexual assault from students made against his football players.
Since the scandal blew up, the NCAA Infraction committee launched an in-depth investigation to determine if Baylor violated any NCAA rules with its conduct. On Wednesday, Baylor finally learned its fate.
“Make no mistake, the conduct that occurred on Baylor’s campus between 2010 and 2015 was unacceptable. Young people were hurt. They were hurt because the campus leaders they trusted to provide a safe campus community failed,” according to the report.
“At times, these failures heavily intersected with Baylor’s football program and Baylor football student-athletes. At other times, they did not. And that is perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this case—that a campus-wide culture of sexual violence went unaddressed due to ignorance and leadership failings across campus.”
Bottom line … the football program acted immorally and unethically — but didn’t necessarily violate major NCAA rules.
Baylor isn’t escaping totally unscathed … the Infractions Committee did find the university provided impermissible benefits for a football player and used a “predominantly female student-host program that did not align with NCAA recruiting rules.”
For that violation, Baylor was hit with a $5,000 fine and recruiting restrictions … such as a reduction in campus visits for recruits, as well as other recruiting-based limitations.
Had Baylor been found in violation of more serious rules, the program could’ve faced stiff punishments like bowl bans and loss of scholarships.