NCAA denies UAF appeal of postseason bans

December 21, 2015

The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee today denied the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ appeal of postseason bans on women’s swimming and women’s basketball. The bans, imposed on both teams last year, will go into effect this season.

"We are disappointed that the committee did not agree with our argument against a postseason ban on women's basketball and women's swimming,” said UAF intercollegiate athletics director Gary Gray. “We will move on and compete hard in every remaining competition and then start making plans for next season, when we will be eligible for postseason competition."

The postseason bans in the two sports were among penalties imposed by the NCAA in November 2014 in connection with infractions spanning the 2007-2008 through 2011-2012 academic years and involving 40 student-athletes in nine of the Alaska Nanooks’ 10 sports teams. Only women’s cross-country was unaffected. The university self-reported the infractions to the NCAA in 2011 and 2012 and instituted some self-imposed penalties at the time.

The infractions dealt with student-athletes’ eligibility in four areas: transfer credit requirements, eligibility of pre-majors, declaration of majors and progress toward degree. The university first reported the infractions to the NCAA in June of 2011 and then made additional reports of infractions in November of 2012. Since then, the university has made major changes in the way it certifies student-athletes and the resources dedicated to those efforts.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Gary Gray, UAF intercollegiate athletics director, at 907-590-4279 or grgray@alaska.edu.

ON THE WEB: www.alaskananooks.com

NOTE TO EDITORS: A summary of the original infractions, corrective actions and penalties is available online at http://bit.ly/uafncaa_appeal or by contacting Grimes. A press release from the NCAA and a report on the findings is available at http://bit.ly/uafncaa_appeal_pr.