NCAA Statement

Dear Members of the Holy Cross Community,

I am writing to inform you that late yesterday the NCAA notified Holy Cross that the Division I Committee on Infractions is releasing a report that will be the final disposition of a major infractions case in which Holy Cross self-reported to the NCAA last year and has accepted responsibility for a major violation in its men’s soccer program. The Committee accepted our self-imposed penalties, including the forfeiture of two scholarships, and added the standard minimum sanction of a two-year probation.

Holy Cross has never before been involved in a major NCAA violation case.

We take these violations very seriously.  While I am disappointed that these violations occurred, I am satisfied with our swift and comprehensive response. The infractions are centered around a number of impermissible telephone calls made to high school student-athletes during a nearly four-year period (April 2004-June 2008).  The phone calls cited and investigated by both the College and the NCAA included contact with students prior to the first permissible calling date, as well as calls exceeding the prescribed limit made during permissible periods.  In its findings, the NCAA noted that the violations were not intentional, but determined that our former men’s soccer head coach failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and that the College failed to monitor telephone calls within the men’s soccer program adequately.

In June of 2008, when we first discovered that violations had taken place, Holy Cross promptly began its own internal investigation and notified the enforcement division of the NCAA.  Over the past 18 months, the investigation has continued; and we have cooperated fully with the NCAA, as has our former head men’s soccer coach.  We submitted a full report to the NCAA in December 2008 and worked with the NCAA as it conducted its investigation.  We ceased all recruiting activities in the men's soccer program for a substantial period of time and implemented a series of corrective measures designed to ensure full NCAA rules compliance.

Compliance with NCAA policies and regulations is and has always been a priority for the College and our athletics program—administrators and coaches alike.  As a result of the investigations, we discovered that our systems for monitoring telephone calls with prospective student athletes needed revision.  We have taken full responsibility for the violations and have developed new procedures to ensure that all sports and all coaches have increased compliance training, understand our tracking systems, and are aware of all NCAA rules regarding telephone contact with high school students.

It is important to note that while this is a major infraction primarily because of the number of calls, the NCAA concluded that the contacts with prospective student athletes were not deliberate violations of the rules nor an attempt to obtain a recruiting advantage.  Only 2% of the 103 prospects who received impermissible calls attended Holy Cross; and all of these student-athletes had their eligibility restored without conditions placed upon them.  In other words, the young men were innocently involved and not penalized by the NCAA.  Furthermore, the NCAA concluded that the failure-to-monitor charge was limited to recruiting calls in the men’s soccer program, as other areas of the men’s soccer program were adequately monitored.  An audit conducted by the College did not reveal telephone call violations in other sports.

As a result of the two-year probation, we will be under some scrutiny by the NCAA and must adhere to additional reporting requirements.  This will not have any impact on our eligibility for post-season competition, future recruiting or any other aspects of our program.  We are committed to enforcing the steps now in place to monitor calls and track prospects.

I would like to commend the Holy Cross Athletics Department and other staff for their swift and comprehensive responses upon discovering these problems. We promptly investigated and then reported these violations to the NCAA when they were discovered.  Director of Athletics Richard Regan and his staff worked diligently to identify the issues, kept me informed, and worked with the NCAA to take appropriate corrective actions.

It is imperative that we conduct all our affairs, including certainly athletics, according to the highest ethical standards.  We regret deeply this serious violation of the rules governing our athletics programs.  We are committed to full compliance with both the letter and the spirit of NCAA rules and will work proactively with our community, the NCAA and our partners in intercollegiate athletics to sustain this commitment.

Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. President