NC State Basketball: How should NCAA punish Wolfpack?

NC State Basketball became the first program the NCAA has charged with violations stemming from the FBI’s findings. What penalties should the program expect?

The NC State Basketball program received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA charging the school, former head coach Mark Gottfried, and former assistant Orlando Early with a total of four violations stemming from information uncovered from the FBI’s investigation into corruption and bribery in the sport.

The allegations center around the Wolfpack’s recruitment of Dennis Smith Jr., and two of the charges are of the Level I variety, the NCAA’s most severe.

This makes NC State the first school to face potential penalties as a result of the fallout from the FBI investigation.

Athletic director Boo Corrigan acknowledged the school had received an NOA from the NCAA and released the following statement.

Smith spent one season at NC State before entering the 2017 NBA Draft, where he was selected No. 9 overall. People associated with him allegedly received “approximately $46,700 in impermissible inducements and benefits,” via two payments from Adidas employee T.J. Gassnola, a parking pass for a Wolfpack football game, and 150 complimentary tickets to secure Smith’s commitment. Smith also reportedly received roughly $73,500 in loans from ASM Sports, but those loans had no ties to the program.

Early received both a Level I and Level II violation for his role in providing the benefits to Smith. Gottfried also received a Level I violation as he is “presumed responsible” for the violations that occurred during his tenure. Furthermore, his staff is charged with providing 14 complimentary tickets to Smith’s AAU coaches in 2016, which amounts to a Level II violation.

Many are looking to see what penalties the NCAA will hand out for these charges given the fact that NC State is the first of at least six schools that will receive a notice of allegations as a result of the FBI’s findings.

They’re the guinea pig for all of this – so what should we expect?

If you’re thinking the NCAA to throw the book at the Wolfpack, that’s not going to happen. While the school is ultimately responsible for the actions of the head coach and the program as a whole, the fact that the allegations only single out two coaches and one player – none of whom are currently with the program – speaks volumes.

Smith will obviously be ruled ineligible for accepting impermissible benefits, meaning the Wolfpack will have to vacate all of their wins from the 2016-17 season. That doesn’t mean much, considering they went just 15-17 that year.

Early is not currently coaching, but Gottfried just finished his first year as the head coach at Cal State Northridge.

This is where things could get interesting.

The program stood behind him when these findings became public and, while they will likely continue to do so since the NOA contained no new revelations, the NCAA may force their hand. At the very least, Gottfried will serve a lengthy suspension. At most, the NCAA could slap him with a show-cause penalty, which would keep him out of the sport for years.

Either way, Gottfried is likely to get more blow back than the NC State program. I even think a postseason ban is off the table for the Wolfpack. They will likely have to pay a fine and have their scholarships reduced for a couple of years along with vacating those wins, but that is something the program will gladly accept.

During trial, the FBI’s case was based on the concept of rouge actors – whether it was coaches, agents, apparel representatives, or whoever else – defrauding the universities and programs, placing the schools as the victims.

The NCAA can’t do that – their rules state the schools should be able to monitor their programs to keep major violations from happening. However, these allegations place virtually all the blame on the coaches and very little on the program itself which, to me, shows who the NCAA is targeting.

Gottfried should be worried, as should other coaches at schools who receive a Notice of Allegations.

But NC State? They’ll be (relatively) fine.