South Carolina reports 11 secondary NCAA violations

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Dawn Staley's staff at South Carolina has recorded two secondary NCAA violations after a few months on the job.

Staley was hired as the school's new women's basketball coach in May. In South Carolina's latest list of secondary violations released Tuesday, the university said a women's basketball coach sent an impermissible text message to a prospect and a women's basketball coach publicized an informal practice scrimmage.

South Carolina's athletic department reported 11 such secondary infractions of NCAA rules from July through December. The school has made its NCAA violation reports public the past several years because of continued freedom of information requests by The Associated Press and other news organizations.

Staley, other coaches or athletes were not specifically named in the report, which lists violations that are typically considered low-level errors in the day-to-day world of college athletics.

In the past, South Carolina has recorded violations such as football coach Steve Spurrier's wife, Jerri, sending hand-written notes to families of players who signed with the Gamecocks.

All requests to restore athletes' eligibility connected with the latest batch of violations were granted, the school said.

For women's basketball, the text-message violation took place Oct. 1 and was classified as Level I, meaning it is submitted to the NCAA enforcement staff through the Southeastern Conference office. The violation for publicizing the scrimmage occurred in November and was considered Level II, which means the SEC office collects such infractions and submits a report to the NCAA at the end of the academic year.

Men's track had two Level I transgressions in the report. In September, a track coach called a prospect before the first allowable date according to NCAA rules. Then in October, a track prospect's official visit exceeded the permissable 48 hours.

Women's track also was cited for an official visit, the problem coming because the prospect arrived before approval was granted.

A men's golf coach also was cited for an impermissible text message.

The remaining five violations were not ascribed to a specific team. They were:

-- Graduate assistant coaches receiving more than their grants-in aid;

-- The school not notifying an athlete it had reduced their scholarship before July 1;

-- Two athletes practiced beyond the permissable two-week period without getting added to the squad list;

-- A prospect was approved for an official visit before meeting requirements, and;

-- A member of the athletic department publicized an informal basketball scrimmage.

The school also conducted 661 drug tests from July to December, five of which were positive for marijuana and one for alcohol. The NCAA conducted 30 drug tests during the past six months, all which came back negative.

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