Kevin Ollie has struggled to replicate the success of the 2013-14 season, when he led the Connecticut men’s basketball team to a surprise national title as a No. 7 seed. The Huskies have advanced to only one NCAA tournament since Shabazz Napier and Co. cut down the nets and have labored to an 11-9 record this season. Now there’s this: The school has confirmed to the New Haven Register’s Jeff Jacobs that it is being investigated by the NCAA for possible recruiting violations.
The inquiry has nothing to do with the federal investigation into college basketball recruiting that led to a number of indictments and the downfall of Louisville Coach Rick Pitino last fall, Jacobs reports, but that investigation spurred the NCAA to direct schools to conduct their own in-house inquiries and apparently U-Conn. found something. The exact details are unknown at this time.
“Based on our own, NCAA-mandated internal review following allegations directed at men’s basketball programs last fall, we had already retained [law firm] Lightfoot, Franklin and White to assist us in a review of our men’s basketball program,” the school said in a statement to Jacobs. “We will continue to work with them during the NCAA inquiry.”
On the heels of an AAC tournament title and second-round NCAA tournament loss to top-seeded Kansas in 2016, U-Conn. signed Ollie to a five-year contract extension before last season. But even with a top 10 recruiting class that year the Huskies posted a 16-17 record, their first losing season since Jim Calhoun’s debut as U-Conn’s coach in 1986-87. The discontent in Storrs only has grown this season, as the Huskies have gone 0-7 against teams ranked in the top 50 of the RPI. Only one of those losses was by single digits, and that was a nine-point defeat to Syracuse on Dec. 5.
As Jacobs notes, the three remaining seasons in Ollie’s contract are guaranteed, but the deal can be voided if he is found to have committed an NCAA violation or if he fails to report that a staff member or player committed an NCAA violation.
“We will appropriately address and respond to this inquiry and continue cooperating fully with the NCAA as this process moves forward,” U-Conn. said in its statement. “Until that time, we will have no further comment.”
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