The Tennessee Volunteers received notice of 18 recruiting infraction allegations. Jeremy Pruitt was the head coach there at the time, but was fired swiftly by the Volunteers after they uncovered the illegal recruiting tactics. Also fired was other members of Pruitt’s staff that contributed to the Volunteers recruiting infractions. So how did they break the NCAA recruiting rules and what does it mean?
The allegations are that Pruitt and staff paid prospects to play for the Volunteers. Around $60,000 in gifts and payments were made to players or their families. Even Pruitt’s wife Casey Pruitt was involved in the allegations. Casey Pruitt worked for the NCAA when her and Jeremy met as someone that makes sure college Athletic departments followed the rules.
Tennessee not only fired the coach and his staff back in 2021, but they self imposed 12 scholarship restrictions. They didn’t, however, impose a bowl ban because want to punish the new coaching staff and players. It’s possible that Tennessee could escape with little to no punishment because of their swift actions once they uncovered the infractions.
Even though the nil deal that’s in place now make this not even necessary anymore, it’s still illegal for coaches or colleges to pay players to play at their schools. I will keep you informed once decisions are made about punishments. In the meantime, here is some other great content.
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