UCF gets postseason ban in football and men's hoops

Jul 31, 2012 - 5:27 PM Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - The University of Central Florida has received a postseason ban for the upcoming football and men's basketball seasons as penalties for recruiting violations.

In its release Tuesday, the NCAA said UCF "exhibited a lack of institutional control and was responsible for impermissible recruiting activities and extra benefits."

The violations stem from the school's involvement with a third-party outside recruiter.

In addition to the bowl ban for the football team and postseason penalty for the men's basketball team, the NCAA also imposed sanctions of five years probation -- two more than UCF's self-imposed penalty -- as well as reductions in scholarships for football and men's basketball, limits for on-campus visits by prospective student-athletes and a fine of $50,000.

The school had also self-imposed other sanctions, including the vacation of all men's basketball wins in which an ineligible student-athlete participated from 2008-11.

Last November, UCF athletic director Keith Tribble and assistant football coach David Kelly resigned amid the allegations. Also, men's basketball coach Donnie Jones served a suspension of three conference games.

According to the NCAA, Ken Caldwell, a recruiter for a professional sports agency, and his associate Brandon Bender, assisted UCF in the recruitment of six men's basketball and five football prospective student-athletes between March 2009 and July 2011 and that Tribble and other athletic department staff members were aware of Caldwell's role.

The NCAA said Caldwell provided impermissible benefits, such as tuition fees, transportation expenses and a laptop computer to student-athletes and prospective student-athletes

It wasn't UCF's first issue with the NCAA. The school had just completed a two-year period of probation for impermissible telephone calls and text messages to prospective recruits.

That made UCF a repeat offender, thus yielding stiffer penalties.