Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee wrap up NCAA infractions hearing | Day 2 recap

CINCINNATI − Tennessee football and former coach Jeremy Pruitt wrapped of their NCAA infractions hearing for their part in a high-profile recruiting scandal on Thursday. It ended one day ahead of schedule.

Tennessee beat reporter Adam Sparks provided live updates from the Westin Cincinnati hotel, the site of the hearing.

UT Chancellor Donde Plowman was pleased when the hearing ended.

"We are really appreciative to the infractions committee panel for their time and attention," Plowman told Knox News. "This was a lot of work. They are going to have to make a decision. We can't wait to get the decision and move forward with our football program and athletics."

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Plowman did not comment about the specifics of the case. Pruitt declined comment.

Under member-imposed confidentiality rules, neither the NCAA nor the involved parties or school can comment about the case until the NCAA Committee on Infractions panel releases its full decision.

Day 1 went 10 hours, 22 minutes with a wide range of attendees like SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, former UT athletics director Phillip Fulmer and Jeremy Pruitt's wife, Casey. They all returned for Day 2 with one understandable exception.

Day 2 went 9 hours, 50 minutes. But it wrapped up at 6:20 p.m.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions panel heard oral arguments from the enforcement staff and questioned parties about a portion of the 18 highest-level violations alleged to have been committed from 2018 to early 2021.

On Day 2, the panel will dig deeper into more violations. Here's the latest from the hearing.

Play-by-play of hearing, sights and sounds

7:05 a.m.: NCAA staff and attorneys on Tennessee's side begin arriving and head to their conference room down the hall from the hearing room.

7:23 a.m.: Jeremy Pruitt arrives and heads to his team's conference room. His wife, Casey, is not with him when he arrives. It's understandable because the violations that involved her were likely addressed on Day 1. Jeremy appears to be in good spirits to start Day 2.

7:23 a.m.: SEC commissioner Greg Sankey arrives and heads to Tennessee's conference room.

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7:26 a.m.: Pruitt's attorney, Henry Giminez, arrives and joins his client in their conference room down the hall from the hearing room.

7:29 a.m.: Former Tennessee athletics director Phillip Fulmer arrives and heads to Tennessee's conference room.

7:33 a.m.: Members of the NCAA Committee of Infractions panel arrive and go to hearing room. NCAA staff are with them.

7:36 a.m.: UT general counsel Ryan Stinnett and others go to the hearing room.

8:00 a.m.: UT Chancellor Donde Plowman arrives in a chipper mood. That's pretty consistent with most parties this morning. The mood is much lighter on Day 2.

8:03 a.m.: Athletics director Danny White arrives and heads to Tennessee's conference room. Final discussions before the hearing should be occurring in both sides' rooms.

8:11 a.m.: Jeremy Pruitt enters hearing room.

8:17 a.m.: Tennessee contingent enters hearing room. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey follows alongside William King, SEC associate commissioner of legal affairs and compliance.

8:30 a.m.: Doors are closed. Hearing kicks off Day 2.

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8:31 a.m.: "Coaching Excellence" leadership conference starts across the hall. And like on Day 1, "Danger Zone" is blasting through this entire area. By the way, there is a reason for that. That conference has a "Top Gun" theme.

9:30 a.m.: Random guy from the leadership conference across the hall wandered over to the hearing room. He walked past the velvet rope sat down at an NCAA staffer's table to make a phone call. I don't blame him. The music is so loud from that leadership conference that he need to escape to hear himself think.

9:33 a.m.: The irony continues. Now the conference across the hall is blasting Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough." The NCAA hearing went 10 hours, 22 minutes yesterday. We've had enough.

10:17 a.m.: Hearing takes a break. Day 1 and Day 2 should follow the same general pattern. Each violation is presented individually with an oral argument and questioning. But there should be more momentum on Day 2 now that all parties are into the flow of the process.

12:04 p.m.: Conference across the hall sings "Happy Birthday, Marvin" and then exits for a break just as the NCAA hearing also breaks for lunch. It's created an odd mixture of jovial and serious people in the common area.

1 p.m.: Return from lunch. Hearing continues.

2:36 p.m.: After about a half-dozen people left the hearing for a bathroom break, they decided to let everybody step out. We're on a 10-minute break.

5:42 p.m.: A strange moment briefly paused the hearing in the final hour. Members of the Portland Timbers MLS team, who are here for their game against FC Cincinnati, accidentally barged into the hearing after getting lost in an adjoining hallway.

6:20 p.m.: Hearing ends one day early.

Why are people in hearing wearing wristbands?

Stay here long enough and you'll make some odd observations. Here's one.

Every person who's participating in the hearing is wearing a green wristband. On Day 1, it was a purple wristband. That gives them access to the hearing room, which is closed to the public and media.

Of course, there's a joke shared by both sides that the wristbands get you free drinks at the hotel bar. After going through more than 10 hours of intense work in that room on Day 1, you can understand why they'd say that.

So what's the real reason? It's simply to keep people who don't belong out of the room. An NCAA spokesperson said wristbands are particularly useful in high-profile cases where fans could try to slip into the room.

There's no word on what the color will be for Day 3, if this hearing stretches that long. But that's sort of the point.

A Twitter List by AdamSparks

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. Twitter @AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee football updates from NCAA infractions hearing