Former Louisiana-Monroe assistant men’s basketball coach Phillipe Lilavois engaged in academic misconduct on behalf of two men’s basketball student-athletes, according to a Division I Committee on Infractions panel. The former assistant coach also violated the NCAA’s ethical conduct rules when he failed to cooperate with the investigation.
Last September, the ULM Athletics Department was notified of alleged misconduct by Lilavois, who was immediately placed on administrative leave (Sept. 15) as an internal review was conducted, and on Oct. 24, 2017, ULM Athletics Director Nick Floyd and men’s head basketball coach Keith Richard accepted his resignation.
“We are glad that the process has concluded, so that the program can move forward and continue to build upon the strong foundation that Coach Richard and his staff have built,” Floyd said. “I want to reiterate that this was an isolated situation and that there are ongoing efforts to preclude something similar from occurring in the future.”
“In less than a year, we are able to close the chapter on the actions of a previous assistant basketball coach,” ULM President Dr. Nick Bruno said. “We are very happy the checks and balances we have in place proved effective. I am proud of the strong compliance culture we have built here at ULM, and I am proud of the professionalism Nick Floyd, (Executive Associate Director of Athletics) Todd Dooley and (men’s head basketball coach) Keith Richard displayed throughout this review process.”
The full summary of the decision can be found HERE.
This case was resolved through the summary disposition process, a cooperative effort where the involved parties collectively submit the case to the Committee on Infractions in written form. The NCAA enforcement staff, university and participating individuals must agree to the facts and overall level of the case to use this process instead of a formal hearing. After the panel reviewed the case, it prescribed additional penalties. The university did not agree with the additional penalties, so the panel held an expedited penalty hearing.
During the summer of 2017, the former assistant coach obtained two student-athletes’ computer login information for two online French courses, logged on to the courses, completed all homework assignments and took their tests. One of the courses required oral exams, so both student-athletes completed those assignments.
The actions of the former assistant coach were contrary to Louisiana-Monroe’s academic misconduct policy. Because of that, his completion of the coursework violated NCAA academic misconduct rules.
During the investigation, the former assistant coach only admitted to completing exams for one of the courses. He insisted that the student-athletes completed the rest of the assignments for that course and all exams and assignments for the second course. After the student-athletes gave information contrary to his account, the former assistant coach refused to participate in a second interview.
The panel used the Division I membership-approved infractions penalty guidelines to prescribe the following measures:
- Two years of probation from Aug. 16, 2018, through Aug. 16, 2020.
- A six-year show-cause order for the former assistant coach. During that period, any NCAA member school employing the former assistant coach must suspend him from all athletically related duties.
- A fine of $5,000 plus 0.5 percent of the 2018-19 budget of the men’s basketball program.
Members of the Committee on Infractions are drawn from NCAA membership and members of the public. The members of the panel who reviewed this case are Norman Bay, attorney in private practice and former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Jody Conradt, retired head women’s basketball coach at Texas and special assistant to women’s athletics at Texas; Bobby Cremins, former head men’s basketball coach at Georgia Tech, College of Charleston and Appalachian State; Thomas Hill, senior vice president emeritus at Iowa State; Jason Leonard, executive director of athletics compliance at Oklahoma; and David Roberts, chief hearing officer for this panel and special advisor to the president of Southern California.
From the NCAA: http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/former-louisiana-monroe-assistant-basketball-coach-engaged-academic-misconduct
