Oregon admits it committed at least one major violation, a second one in dispute
Oregon has committed at least one major violation. The school and NCAA both agree upon that.
There's still more to be sorted out. The sides can't yet agree on whether the $25,000 in eyebrow-raising money paid to Willie Lyles for "oral scouting reports," which was reported by Yahoo! Sports in 2011, is a major violation or not. And it's unclear what punishment will result from the case.
But, after the Oregonian received 515 pages of documents on the case four months after it requested them from the school, the paper reported that the case does contain at least one major violation. There's no disputing that, and although it might not be devastating for Oregon, "major violations" is never good news.
The Oregonian said that most of the violations listed in the summary disposition memos happened when Chip Kelly was head coach. Kelly, of course, left to the NFL this January.
The university, according to the Oregonian, "has proposed to self-impose a two-year probation for the football program and a reduction of one scholarship for each of the next three seasons." That seems light. And it's probably not going to fly with the NCAA if it finds the Lyles claim to be major.
According to the Oregonian's report, Oregon agreed it improperly used three scouting services, Elite Scouting Services, New Level Athletics and Complete Scouting Services, by accepting oral reports when written quarterly reports are required by the NCAA. Complete Scouting Services is associated with Lyles, who is considered a Ducks booster by the NCAA. The NCAA considers the oral reports from Lyles to be an additional major violation, the Oregonian said.
"There is no information," the NCAA stated, via the Oregonian, "in the record that Lyles coerced or directed any prospect to ultimately choose Oregon. That said, Lyles did provide a meaningful recruiting advantage by orally providing background information about prospects to the coaching staff and also by serving as a conduit to facilitate communication with prospective student-athletes."
The Ducks' meeting with the NCAA's committee on infractions later this year will be interesting. A lot will be at stake for the Oregon program.
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