May 18, 2006
ATLANTA–The NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee announced Thursday its decision to reverse all penalties against Georgia Tech involving the vacation of football results but uphold other penalties imposed by the NCAA Committee on Infractions last November.
The violations and penalties involve the improper certification of student-athletes due to an inadvertent misapplication of NCAA eligibility certification rules by Athletic Association and Institute staff members. The NCAA Committee on Infractions announced on Nov. 17, 2005 its decision to place Georgia Tech on two years probation, vacate results in several sports and add additional scholarship reductions to those already self-imposed by the Institute. In January, Georgia Tech appealed the severity of the penalties.
Georgia Tech originally self-imposed penalties to reduce the number of initial counters in the sport of football by six for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 academic years. The Committee on Infractions imposed additional penalties limiting the Institute to 79 overall counters for the 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years, which Georgia Tech appealed. The Infractions Appeals Committee upheld these additional scholarship limitations.
“We appreciate the consideration Georgia Tech received from the NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee, and we accept its findings,” said Institute President Dr. Wayne Clough. “We take certification of athletic eligibility seriously and have strengthened the system to help ensure that we are fully compliant in the future.”
Clough added, “Additionally, we are particularly appreciative that the committee determined that the football team’s records should stand. I am personally pleased that we are now able to close this issue and put it behind us.”
Paul Griffin, the Senior Associate Director of Athletics who has managed Tech’s NCAA appeal since Dave Braine’s retirement, said, “Although the decision of the Infractions Appeals Committee was not exactly what we had hoped, we accept the Committee’s decision, and we can now put this behind us and move forward.”
Dan Radakovich, Tech’s Director of Athletics since April 1 of this year, said, “Georgia Tech has a tradition of integrity and academic excellence that we are committed to upholding and enhancing.
“We’re confident that the Institute and the Athletic Association now have the structures, procedures and personnel in place to effectively manage this process. In particular, the addition of experienced staff members in the positions of Director of Compliance and Associate Director of Athletics for Academic Services have fortified our operations.”
