The NCAA has been notoriously hands-off when it comes to penalties for name, image and likeness rules, but they finally handed out a punishment on Friday for one situation.
The University of Miami was punished by the NCAA over impermissible benefits provided to Haley and Hanna Cavinder prior to their commitment to play for the school’s women’s basketball team. The school and NCAA had previously agreed to have Hurricanes coach Katie Meier sit out the first three games of the season. But the NCAA added more penalties to the school, while neither the Cavinder Twins nor booster John Ruiz were punished.
The punishments stemmed from an impermissible meeting and impermissible meal the Cavinder Twins had with Ruiz at the Miami booster’s home. The NCAA learned of the meeting and meal via a tweet shared by Ruiz in April 2022.
NEWS: In its first NIL infractions ruling, NCAA sanctions Miami WBB for violations in the recruitment of Haley & Hanna Cavinder.
As recruits, Cavinders dined at booster John Ruiz’s home. Ruiz’s tweet that night drew NCAA attention
From @ByPatForde & me – https://t.co/84AVs5ZJzO pic.twitter.com/hzK6G1BW9A
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) February 24, 2023
The NCAA decided to add more penalties to Miami because they felt the school did not do enough to reprimand Ruiz.
The penalties include:
– A one-year probation, which could result in more severe sanctions if the program violates rules during that time.
– A $5,000 fine plus 1% of the women’s basketball budget.
– A 7% reduction in the number of official visits during the 2022–23 academic year.
– A reduction of nine recruiting days in 2022–23.
– A three-week probation on recruiting communications by staff members starting with the opening of the transfer portal on March 13.
The Cavinder Twins have a massive following on social media and were long identified as being poised to cash in under NIL rules. Meanwhile, Ruiz has become well known for establishing one of the most prominent NIL collectives in the country. He is said to be bankrolling a multimillion dollar operation that has helped fund and recruit talent to Miami’s various athletic teams.
The Hurricanes’ women’s basketball team is 17-11 this season. Haley is the team’s leading scorer at 12.8 points per game. Hanna is a role player averaging 3.8 points per game.
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