Southern heavily sanctioned after improperly certifying more than 200 student-athletes

(On The Yard SU photo)

Lack of institutional control is something you never want to hear related to your athletic program, but that’s the situation Southern University is in now.

The NCAA ruled SU improperly certified 200 student-athletes during a six-year period across 15 different sports. A panel accepted self-imposed sanctions a $5,000 fine and a loss of five football scholarships per year for the next three academic years in addition to prescribing a five-year probation and a vacation of records accumulated with the improperly certified athletes.

“Southern University lacked institutional control when it failed to monitor its eligibility certification process, did not properly apply financial aid rules and did not comply with Committee on Academic Performance penalties, according to a Division I Committee on Infractions panel,” the NCAA wrote in its report.

The full list of self-imposed penalties are:

*A $5,000 fine

*A reduction of women’s soccer scholarships by one during the 2016-17 academic year and by one during the 2017-18 academic year.

*A reduction of softball scholarships by 1.5 during the 2016-17 academic year, by 1.5 during the 2017-18 academic year and by 0.78 during the 2018-19 academic year.

*A reduction of baseball scholarships by 2.3 during the 2016-17 academic year, by 2.3 during the 2017-18 academic year and by 2.3 during the 2018-19 academic year.

*A reduction of football scholarships by five during the 2016-17 academic year, by five during the 2017-18 academic year and by five during the 2018-19 academic year.

*A reduction of women’s volleyball scholarships by one during the 2016-17 academic year and by one during the 2017-18 academic year.

*A reduction of men’s track scholarships by 2.11 during the 2016-17 academic year, by 2.11 during the 2017-18 academic year and by 2.1 during the 2018-19 academic year.

*A reduction of women’s track scholarships by 3.6 during the 2016-17 academic year, by 3.6 during the 2017-18 academic year and by 3.6 during the 2018-19 academic year.

*A reduction of men’s basketball scholarships by one during the 2016-17 academic year, by one during the 2017-18 academic year and by one during the 2018-19 academic year.

SU President-Chancellor Ray L. Belton issued a statement following the NCAA’s announcement.

“Today’s outcome is the end of a long journey. Going forward we remain committed to investing to ensure we have the infrastructure to support a productive athletic program and strong institutional control and outstanding NCAA compliance. We appreciate everyone for the work and effort that brought us to this point.”