NCAA is finally set to rule on Baylor and its football program, sources indicate

The NCAA’s investigation into the Baylor football program and athletic department that started in June of 2017 in the wake of a sex-assault scandal, and embarrassingly lagged through a myriad of steps, was originally supposed to end the week of April 5.

But when Baylor won the NCAA title in men’s basketball that week, the governing body elected to delay the announcement rather than pour hot oil all over the school.

There is no better time for news dump than the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, and sources indicate that the NCAA will finally announce its findings and any potential penalties for Baylor on Friday.

Of course, it can always change its mind. The original schedule to finish this case was, at the latest, the summer of 2019.

As to what the NCAA may potentially do to Baylor and former football coach Art Briles, no one is sure.

There are also a pair of lawsuits being played out in courtrooms from Austin to Houston that could have affected the NCAA’s decision as well.

One case involves 15 Jane Doe plaintiffs where the victims, all Baylor students, allege the school did not handle their reports of sexual assault properly. Some of these cases are at least 5 years old.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys, and even the judges handling the case in Austin, have been critical of how Baylor has not cooperated during discovery.

A lawsuit in Houston involving a pair of former football players might have a better chance of affecting the NCAA’s rules of infractions committee as the testimony demonstrates what could be perceived as a pattern at Baylor.

In September of 2018, the NCAA issued the dreaded “notice of allegations” to Baylor. The NCAA’s charges against Briles included “Head Coach Responsibility: Failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance.” The NCAA alleged a “lack of institutional control” against the university.

Briles, 65, could receive a show cause penalty by the NCAA. Briles has not coached on the NCAA level since he was fired by Baylor in May 2015.

Since then, he has coached an American football team in Italy, and for the last two years coached at Mount Vernon high school in east Texas. He left the position when the season ended in 2020.

With the exception of a few administrators and influential alumni, every major person involved in an ordeal that serves a marker of time at Baylor has moved on to other jobs or retirement.

It is nearly five years to the day when the law firm of Pepper Hamilton announced its now much criticized “Finding of Facts” into Baylor’s handling of sexual assault complaints, which included several members of the football team.

Since that release, Baylor implemented more than 100 policy changes to address Title IX concerns.

The university was also penalized by the Big 12 Conference. That penalty, however, was mostly toothless as the conference withheld money until the school demonstrated it had made necessary adjustments and then paid in full.

After the report’s release, information slowly trickled out from former staffers who were critical of how the school handled the scandal. The school has also settled several lawsuits with former students who alleged Title IX infractions.

The Houston lawsuit, filed in 2019, involves a former member of the Baylor equestrian team who alleged she was sexually assaulted by two football players in the fall of 2017.

According to the testimony, the Baylor University Police Department hired Sgt. Molly Davis in the same month as the alleged assault.

She led an investigation into the incident.

According to the Houston Chronicle, which has extensively covered the trail, “In stunning testimony reminiscent of the school’s acknowledged past mishandling of sexual violence, Davis said she told the accused men during interviews that she wanted to ‘keep it quiet’ and did not want to ‘take down the football team.’”

For a school whose reputation was tarnished for its failures to handle assault claims properly, this sounds ominously close to past mistakes when the perception was that Baylor went out of its way to protect the football team.

Outside investigators later concluded the problems were university wide, and not specific to the football team.

Davis found no probable cause to indict the players because of inconsistent testimony and evidence.

The McClennan County District Attorney later presented the case to a grand jury, which declined to indict the young men.

Baylor conducted its own investigation, and determined that two players violated its sexual misconduct policy by engaging in non-consensual sexual acts with a person who was incapacitated.

This particular case is technically not a part of the NCAA investigation, as the time periods are separated by several years.

However, because the NCAA’s enforcement procedures do not follow typical legal procedures, anything could potentially influence its verdict with Baylor.

No one is exactly sure just yet how this is going to play out other than the end is finally here.