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Stephen F. Austin To Vacate Wins & Titles For NCAA Violations

Courtesy: Chuck Smith / Red River Radio News
Credit Courtesy: Chuck Smith / Red River Radio News
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Courtesy: Chuck Smith / Red River Radio News

FAILED NCAA GUIDELINES - The National Collegiate Athletic Association , (the NCAA ) says Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas will vacate 289 wins and conference championships across multiple sports as punishment for inaccurately certifying players’ academic  eligibility from 2013-2019. 

According to a statement from the SFA Athletics  this spring they discovered the process that certified student-athletes being ruled as academically eligible was not meeting all NCAA requirements as former staffers were  incorrectly counting all semester credit hours instead of counting only degree-applicable credits. As a result 82 student-athletes were improperly certified over the six-year period.

Ryan Ivey, current SFA Athletics Director had this to say to KETK Sports News: 

   

Ryan Ivey, Athletic Director - SFA State University / Nacogdoches, Texas
Credit Courtesy: SFASU
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Courtesy: SFASU
Ryan Ivey, Athletic Director - SFA State University / Nacogdoches, Texas

"If you want to say the definition of being unfair, I mean it's not fair to our current student athletes, it's not fair to our coaches," Ivey said. "But it's the reality of the situation and the reality of the system that we're in."

So any win where SFA used an ineligible player during 2013-2019  would be officially vacated from the record books.  This includes: 117 men’s basketball wins (including the 2016 NCAA tournament win over West Virginia) , 112 baseball victories, 31 softball wins, 29 football wins and three men’s basketball conference championships.  There are other sanctions involving probation, fines and considerable fines.

The athletic department of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas will vacate 289 wins and several titles in the wake of discovering it had violated NCAA guidelines regarding student athletes academic eligibility.

Copyright 2020 Red River Radio

Chuck Smith brings more than 30 years' experience to Red River Radio having started out as a radio news reporter and moving into television journalism as a newsmagazine producer / host, talk-show moderator, programming director and managing producer and news director / anchor for commercial, public broadcasting and educational television. He has more recently worked in advertising, marketing and public relations as a writer, video producer and media consultant. In pursuit of higher learning, Chuck studied Mass Communications at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and motion picture / television production at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has also taught writing for television at York Technical College in Rock Hill, South Carolina and video / film production at Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport.