SU Athletics Dealt Another Bad Hand: NCAA hammers down

On Wednesday, November 16, Southern University’s (SU) athletics took a major hit from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) due to past infractions committed a few years back.
The NCAA announced that SU’s athletics is now under probation from now until the next five years for eligibility and certification issues. As a condition of the probation, SU will have to cough up wins from the last six years, pay a $5,000 fine and issue out reduced scholarships to the athletes in football, baseball, softball, track and field, both men’s and women’s basketball, soccer and volleyball until 2019.
“Today’s release of the NCAA Public Infractions Report represents the culmination of a long and arduous process and closes the chapter on Southern University’s involvement with the NCAA bodies,” said Interim Athletics Director and Men’s Head Basketball Coach, Roman Banks, in response to the NCAA’s final judgment. “The University’s efforts to self-investigate and self-report violations, which involved a large volume of work executed by a broad-based spectrum of university personnel, yielded self-imposed penalties confirmed by the NCAA as fair and equitable.”
Banks went on to say that the personnel responsible for the horrific mistake of mishandling SU’s athletic information are no longer working or involved in the department. He ended his response by saying now is the time for the University to move on and shape its future by orchestrating the process the right way to adhere to NCAA rules.
“Moving forward, Southern University’s athletics is committed to dedicating the necessary resources and to providing exceptional leadership to regulate and function under the guidelines established by the NCAA,” said Banks.
Initially, SU men’s basketball and women’s tennis were excused from the sanctions several months back but now all 15 of the University’s sports are placed under the probation.
Head Football Coach Dawson Odums says the team’s motivation to win will not be affected by the recent punishment.
With much certainty in voice, Odums stated, “It would be their first win,” when asked how much would a win against GSU meant to the younger players.
When all was said and done, SU System President Chancellor Ray L. Belton delivered one of the final responses to the probation.
Like Banks, Belton expressed the journey ahead is still promising for present-day and future Jag athletes.
“Today’s outcome is the end of a long journey. Going forward we remain committed to investing to ensure we have the infrastructure to support a productive athletic program and strong institutional control and outstanding NCAA compliance. We appreciate everyone for the work and effort that brought us to this point,” said Belton.