UK Football Must Vacate 10 Wins in 2021, Go on Probation for Two Years

SEC Photo

Remember that magical 2021 football season for Kentucky when quarterback Will Levis became almost a folk hero in the Bluegrass and running back Chris Rodriguez was almost unstoppable at times.

Well, that 10-win season is gone.

Kentucky and the NCAA reached a settlement Friday over infractions that included 11 football players getting paid for work they did not perform in 2021 and 2022. The NCAA released said UK agreed with the NCAA Committee on Infractions that some football players received impermissible benefits and that rules violations took place in the school’s swimming program.

While the swimming issues are scandalous and embarrassing, the football probation is still an eyesore for the Cats who will spend two years on probation, pay an undisclosed fine and vacate records of any games in which ineligible football players competed. Eleven players were paid for not working at UK HealthCare and eight played. Basically, players were apparently told by someone at UK HealthCare they did not have to work to get paid and like most of us, they gladly took the money without working.

The NCAA agreed that “no member of the athletic department knew or should have reasonably known” about the no-show jobs so make what you want to that. Kentucky self-reported the violations in September, 2022, and both Rodriguez and linebacker Jordan Wright were held out of games during the 2022 season for undisclosed violations.

While the UK football program will be on probation for two years, vacate wins from the 2021 season and pay a fine. Kentucky will not have to sit out any bowl games and has no future recruiting restrictions unless there are new violations.

Kentucky had its football media day Friday but this news was not announced until about 45 minutes after media ended and about 2 1/2 hours after Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, who signed a lucrative contract extension based on UK’s 2021 season, finished his time answering questions from the media.

Kentucky agreed with the NCAA regarding the swimming infractions, which involved men’s and women’s swimmers who weren’t given required days off and who exceeded practice hours for three years. Of course, there have also been multiple sexual misconduct allegations against the former UK swim coach.

Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart was not available to the media but issued a lengthy statement:

“For over a couple decades, we have worked really hard to make sure that our compliance and our integrity was at the highest level. In this case, our processes worked. Our compliance office uncovered both of these violations and worked through, over the last three years, trying to find a way through to solution, to resolution, which we have now received. We are thankful that the process has come to a close and we’re ready to move forward. This has been a long process, but I’m thankful for the people in our department that have worked hard to bring it to a conclusion,” said the Kentucky athletics director.

“I do not want what we’re announcing today to diminish the efforts of what young people have accomplished in our program over the last two decades. We have been supremely focused on putting rings on fingers and diplomas in hands and we’ve done that at the highest level. We’ve won many, many championships, many, many postseason events. We’ve graduated a number of young people, thousands of young people that have left our program and are accomplishing amazing things in the world. This does not diminish any of that, nor does it stop our progress going forward for what we’re trying to do to continue to do that.

“We will continue to be an educational enterprise in the landscape of college athletics that we’re in. We will continue to teach young people how to compete on the field of play, on the court, in the pool, wherever it happens to be. We will continue to put diplomas in their hands and let them walk out there and be the greatest leaders we know they can be.”

UK president Dr. Eli Capilouto said UK “rigorously investigated, reported the violations to the NCAA and imposed sanctions of our own” in his released statement.  He said UK would “respect the findings and accept the final resolution.”

The UK president then issued strong words about the sexual assault/harassment charges for the UK swimming program. He said in his release:

“The allegations of sexual assault and harassment of former staff by the swim coach at the time, Lars Jorgensen, are deeply distressing to all of us.  The most serious of the allegations were only known to us at the time a lawsuit was filed by two former staff members and after the coach had been dismissed.

“Mitch and I are sickened by allegations that members of the UK community suffered harm because of the actions of someone entrusted to protect and empower our student athletes and staff. We will not tolerate abuse, and neither should anyone who is a member of our community.”

Capilouto outlined specific steps and policy changes UK would implement to hopefully keep this from happening again.