Syracuse Men's Basketball News: University Self-Imposes Postseason Ban for Ongoing Infractions Probe
ByFor an internal review that began in 2007, Syracuse University has announced a self-imposed postseason ban on its men's basketball team.
According to ESPN, Syracuse had been investigating the team for alleged academic violations from 2007 to 2012. The NCAA also had an ongoing investigation into the potential violations and Syracuse had self-reported its own findings along the way.
"I am very disappointed that our basketball team will miss the opportunity to play in the post-season this year," men's head basketball coach Jim Boeheim said in a statement. "Senior Rakeem Christmas has been an outstanding member of the team for the past four years. However, I supported this decision and I believe the University is doing the right thing by acknowledging that past mistakes occurred. Our players have faced adversity and challenges before. I know they will rise to this challenge by keeping our program strong and continuing to make our University proud."
Syracuse will now miss this year's NCAA, ACC and NIT tournaments.
Syracuse declared former center Fab Melo ineligible for the 2012 NCAA Tournament and he also missed part of the Big East tournament for the same academic issue. Shortly after, the school reported turned in an internal review of potential drug policy violations that did not involve any current players at the time.
Part of the NCAA's investigation is whether or not Syracuse basketball players in violation of the drug policy were allowed to practice anyway. It is not clear if Syracuse's self-imposed ban also means to the end of the NCAA's investigation.
"This has been a long process and while this is a tough decision it is in the best interest of the Athletics Department and the University," Daryl Gross, Syracuse's athletic director, said in the statement. "My greatest disappointment is for the players who will be affected by this outcome even though they were not involved. I am also mindful of the passionate and loyal members of Orange Nation who look forward to post-season play. In the end, I am confident our program will continue to compete at the highest national level and remain strong."
Rakeem Christmas, Trevor Cooney and Mike Gbinije, three captains on this year's team, released their own statement, Syracuse.com reported. Christmas is in his last year of NCAA athletic eligibility, while Cooney and Gbinije each have one more year.
"We are all tremendously disappointed that we are going to miss out on playing in the postseason based on issues that do not involve us," they said. "However, we support our school and this won't change how hard we will continue to work in practice and in games."