On June 16, the NCAA placed penalties on the University of Idaho men’s basketball team and former head coach Don Verlin for violations which occurred while Verlin was still with the program.
UI was fined $5,000 and placed on probation for two years along with other penalties, some of which were self-imposed. Verlin was placed under a one year show-cause order, a court order which requires one party in a case to prove something to the court.
According to a resolution posted online, the NCAA, Verlin and UI all agreed to the Level II penalties for violations which occurred between November 2015 and February 2019.
Verlin was placed on administrative leave in May 2019 after UI discovered the possible violations. Verlin was fired three weeks later. During his 11 years at UI, Verlin had garnered a 177-176 record.
The Division I Committee on Infractions found Verlin instructed two non-coaching staff members to participate in coaching activities, causing the program to exceed the number of permissible countable coaches.
Other violations included repeatedly exceeding the number of hours allowed for countable athletically-related activities (CARA), allowing prospects to play in scrimmages observed by coaches and allowing potential recruits to participate in activities they were not yet cleared to participate in. One of the recruits was confirmed not to have completed a required medical examination before he participated.
“The coach responsible for compiling and reporting CARA for the men’s basketball program did not include these (scrimmages) because he believed only hands-on coaching constituted CARA,” the resolution stated.
According to the resolution, coaches observing the scrimmages would have been within NCAA rules if the scrimmage time had been included in CARA logs. The failure to document scrimmages in the CARA logs caused the program to exceed the allowed amount of activities nearly every week the scrimmages occurred.
“Vandal Athletics has cooperated fully with the NCAA through its investigation. As the recently appointed athletic director at Idaho, I continue to look for improved processes across our department,” UI Athletic Director Terry Gawlik said in a statement. “I appreciate the NCAA’s fair and thorough report regarding the men’s basketball program, which identified several areas for improvement.”
Verlin promoted a manager, who was still a full-time undergraduate, to the position of director of men’s basketball operations in October 2016, the resolution stated.
Later, the undergraduate manager was used as a stand- in during practices, seen holding playing cards and giving feedback to the players. All of these actions violate NCAA rules.
After these violations surfaced Verlin became the men’s basketball manager instead. This was out of compliance due to the last manager not being enrolled at UI the previous semester.
The new head coach, Zac Claus, took over the program as interim coach after Verlin was fired. Claus led the Vandals to an 8-24 record last season.
“We began implementing changes in the fall and coach Claus was involved in those adjustments,” Gawlik said in a statement. “I fully support and look forward to watching him build the men’s basketball program with integrity. We continue to look for ways to advance our programs and provide the best experience possible for our student-athletes.”
Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @antxiam5