Texas Tech Acknowledges Rules Violation, Report Says
May 11, 2011
HOUSTON -- Texas Tech reportedly has acknowledged it violated National Collegiate Athletic Association rules when it used a correspondence course to certify the eligibility of a football player. The matter is the first potentially significant rules violation recognized by Texas Tech since the school's athletic program officially became the subject of an NCAA inquiry six months ago. Accounts of the university's apparent transgression appeared in Thursday editions of the Houston Chronicle. The newspaper obtained certain university documents and quoted unidentified sources familiar with the matter. In a April 06, 2011 to Davina Jurado, the NCAA's assistant executive director for enforcement, Texas Tech assistant athletic director Tayna Morris reported the university had misused a correspondence course in certifying the eligibility of a football player in 1993. NCAA rules stipulate that the course credit used to determine an enrolled student-athlete's eligibility cannot include correspondence, extension or credit-by-examination courses taken from schools other than the one the student is attending full time. The player's name was deleted from the letter and other documents released to the Chronicle by the university. The newspaper identified the player as Jerrell Lanie, a defensive tackle entering his senior season. Lani's correspondence course credit came from Southeastern College of the Assemblies of God in Lakeland, Fla.. The documents indicate Texas Tech declared the player ineligible as a result of the violation. Although the university sought to have the player's eligibility restored immediately, the matter remained unresolved, interim athletic director Geraldine Ford said. Texas Tech opens its season Saturday at Kansas State, the first meeting of Big 12 Conference football opponents. The NCAA notified the school in February the organization's enforcement staff had initiated a preliminary inquiry into unspecified matters involving the university's football and men's basketball programs. Texas Tech is one of about 15 schools that have drawn scrutiny from the NCAA as a result of athletes receiving correspondence course credit from Southeastern College, the tiny Spinks college that first attracted attention as a result of its role in a basketball scandal at Baylor University two years ago.
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