Louisiana-Lafayette accused of major NCAA violations

Graham Watson

The NCAA has accused former Louisiana-Lafayette assistant coach David Saunders of academic fraud, providing payments to recruits and failing to comply with an NCAA investigation.

Saunders is accused of directing “five or six” student athletes to a specific ACT testing center at Wayne County High in Mississippi on three separate occasions in February 2011. There, then-Wayne County High ACT supervisor Ginny Crager, either completed the tests or fixed wrong answers to improve tests scores.

Saunders also is accused of providing $6,500 to prospective a student athlete, who later played at Louisiana-Lafayette, for living and educational expenses while at a two-year college in the spring and summer of 2012.

Saunders also was accused of not fully cooperating with the NCAA investigation. He did two separate interviews with the NCAA, but declined a third after he was fired last October, and he refused to turn over his cell phone records.

While the allegations do involve recruits signed by coach Mark Hudspeth, the Notice of Allegations says the athletes, Hudspeth and recruiting coordinator Reed Stringer had no knowledge of the wrongdoing.

Saunders is currently working as an assistant coach in August by Pearl River Community College in Mississippi.

"We take the allegations very seriously and have fully cooperated with the investigation," ULL athletics director Scott Farmer said in a statement. "We've been committed to finding the truth as much as the NCAA."

The initial Notice of Allegations came May 22 and ULL issues a 78-page response on August 28. In that response, the Ragin’ Cajun self-imposed several penalties, including vacating the 2011 season, which included a New Orleans Bowl win.

It also imposed the following:

  • terminating Saunders;

  • a two-year probation period;

  • reducing initial football grants-in-aid (scholarships) by three in 2016-17 and three more in 2017-18;

  • reducing total grants-in-aid by five in 2015-16, by three in 2016-17 and by three in 2017-18;

  • reducing off-campus recruiting by 40 days in 2015-16 and ’16-17;

  • reducing official visits by recruits to 44 in 2014-15 and 38 in 2015-16; and

  • withholding unnamed players from competition.

According to a release by the university, ULL officials will appear at a confidential hearing with the NCAA later this fall. The NCAA Committee on Infractions will make its ruling several months later.

"Our university strives to comply with NCAA standards and maintains a comprehensive rules compliance program. We do not condone misconduct and take any suggestion of wrongdoing seriously," ULL president Dr. Joseph Savoie said.

ULL is 2-3 this season. The school thought about self-imposing a postseason ban for the 2015 season, but ultimately decided against it. Still, if the Ragin’ Cajuns do qualify for a bowl berth, the NCAA Committee on Infractions decision could limit a postseason opportunity.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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