Tennessee's Donde Plowman slams NCAA as 'morally wrong' over NIL investigation, email shows

University of Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman said the NCAA is “morally wrong” for alleging that UT broke rules involving name, image and likeness benefits for athletes, according to an email she sent to NCAA President Charlie Baker.

Knox News obtained the email, which was sent Monday, through a public records request.

In it, Plowman chides the NCAA’s continually changing approach to NIL and its intent to enforce NIL rules retroactively.

“The implications of the NCAA enforcement staff’s approach to date goes beyond just our institution, but also could harm many more student-athletes who have done nothing wrong – all based on the administrative disputes of adults,” Plowman said in the email to Baker.

“This is morally wrong and undermines the credibility of the NCAA’s stated interest of acting in the best interest of student-athletes.”

UT could face multiple level 1 and level 2 violations, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Knox News. Plowman also referenced the possibility that UT could face a charge of lack of institutional control, most serious charge against a university.

UT staff met with members of the NCAA enforcement staff on Monday to discuss allegations the NCAA intends to bring against the university related to NIL. But Plowman denied that any violations occurred.

“We appreciate your staff listening to our arguments and agreeing to evaluate them,” Plowman said in the email. “The NCAA’s allegations are factually untrue and procedurally flawed. Moreover, it is intellectually dishonest for the NCAA enforcement staff to pursue infractions cases as if student-athletes have no NIL rights.”

NCAA declined to meet with Tennessee in December

UT confirmed the existence of the investigation, but it has not received a notice of allegations.

No specific athletes have surfaced in the probe. A source with direct knowledge of the investigation told Knox News on Tuesday that it involved athletes in multiple sports, including football.

The NCAA declined comment in a statement to Knox News.

“With rare exceptions, the NCAA does not comment on current, pending or potential investigations due to confidentiality rules put in place by member schools,” associate director of communications Meghan Durham Wright said.

Spyre Sports Group, an NIL collective based in Knoxville, has signed more than 200 UT athletes across 11 sports. Spyre did not immediately comment when requested by Knox News.

Plowman noted in her letter to Barker that the NCAA had refused to meet with her and athletics director Danny White in December to discuss the allegations.

“It would have been my preference to discuss my concerns with you in person,” Plowman said to Baker in the email. “Your recent testimony before Congress indicated you wanted to meet with as many member institutions and student-athletes as possible to discuss issues associated with college sports.

“I am sharing my perspective in writing since my December request for you to meet with me and our athletics director, Danny White, was denied.”

Additional rules violations would put UT in a precarious position because the NCAA handed down a ruling on 18 highest-level violations in July, which were committed under fired football coach Jeremy Pruitt from 2018 to 2021.

The NCAA praised UT for its exemplary cooperation during that investigation, a fact that Plowman mentioned in her impassioned email to Barker, the former governor of Massachusetts to took over as NCAA president on March 1, 2023.

"It is inconceivable that our institution’s leadership would be cited as an example of exemplary leadership in July 2023, then as a cautionary example of a lack of institutional control only six months later," Plowman said.

UT avoided a charge of lack of institutional control and a postseason ban in the Pruitt recruiting scandal. Instead, it received the lesser charge of failure to monitor.

Plowman: ‘The NCAA is failing’

It’s been difficult to pin down NCAA rules regulating NIL because they’ve changed frequently. And that was the source of Plowman’s argument.

The NCAA first allowed athletes to receive NIL benefits on July 1, 2021. The policy decision and effective date were announced hours before laws or executive orders in more than a dozen states that have the same impact were set to take effect.

Since then, NCAA policies and state laws related to NIL have changed constantly, making enforcement a challenge.

Plowman took issue with the NCAA’s approach in her email to Baker.

“The leaders of intercollegiate athletics owe it to student-athletes and their families to establish clear rules and to act in their best interest," she said. "Instead, two and a half years of vague and contradictory NCAA memos, emails and ‘guidance’ about name, image and likeness (NIL) has created extraordinary chaos that student-athletes and institutions are struggling to navigate. In short, the NCAA is failing.”

Can NCAA enforce rules before they existed?

What could be in question is whether UT violated NCAA rules before they were enacted.

In May 2022, the NCAA reinforced to member schools that using NIL as recruiting inducements violated its rules. At the time, the NCAA amended its policy with plans to retroactively investigate "improper behavior" and NIL collectives involved in recruiting players over the previous 10 months.

“Regrettably, in this chaotic environment, the NCAA enforcement staff is trying to retroactively apply unclear guidance to punish and make an example of our institution and others,” Plowman said in the email.

Plowman said UT complied with “interim NIL policy and guidance as it was put into place by the NCAA. No member institution could follow future guidance prior to it being given, let alone interpreted."

Plowman further said no UT employee has been named as committing NIL violations, and neither an NIL collective nor an athlete broke NCAA rules “as they existed at the time any actions were taken.”

She added that “some of the allegations are simply factually untrue.”

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee's Donde Plowman slams NCAA over NIL investigation: 'Morally wrong'