Miami gets NCAA penalty 'after Cavinder twins ate dinner with booster'

University of Miami’s athletic department has been placed on probation for one year after the school and NCAA said women’s basketball coaches inadvertently helped arrange impermissible contact between a booster and two players, reported to be social media influencers, the Cavinder twins.

Hurricanes coach Katie Meier will not have to miss any more games; to start the season in anticipation of the NCAA’s ruling.

But the NCAA made clear that it wanted tougher penalties, saying it was ‘troubled’ by ‘the absence of a disassociation of the involved booster’ as part of the sanctions that Miami agreed upon.

‘Boosters are involved with prospects and student-athletes in ways the NCAA membership has never seen or encountered,’ the NCAA said.’In that way, addressing impermissible booster conduct is critical, and the disassociation penalty presents an effective penalty available to the (committee on infractions).’

The NCAA did not name neither the booster nor the players involved, but referenced an April 13 tweet posted by a booster that included a photo of him and two recruits.On that date, with Haley and Hanna Cavinder after a dinner at his home.

Ruiz has signed several Miami athletes to name, image and likeness deals, which are now permitted by NCAA rule.The Cavinders, who have an enormous social media following and several NIL deals, and about a week after the dinner.

The Cavinders told the NCAA that their decision to attend Miami was not influenced by what happened in their meeting with Ruiz, though they are among the athletes who have endorsed at least one of Ruiz’s business interests.

Darren Heitner, a Florida-based attorney who has represented the Cavinders and works in the growing field of NIL deals, called out the NCAA on Twitter.

‘It’s funny that the NCAA’s 1st act was related to players who DID NOT choose to transfer based on #NIL while countless players across the country are changing schools PRIMARILY based on NIL offers,’ Heitner tweeted.

‘But I’m sure it has nothing to do with the NCAA having a target on @JohnHRuiz…’

The Cavinders are not subject to any sanctions.Both are in their first season with the Hurricanes after transferring from Fresno State.

‘Although the parties asserted that a disassociation penalty would be inappropriate based on an impermissible meal and an impermissible contact, today’s new NIL-related environment represents a new day,’ the NCAA said.

Meier said Friday in a statement distributed by the university that she has led programs ‘with integrity and have been a collaborative partner with the NCAA.’

‘Collegiate athletics is in transformation, and any inadvertent mistake I made was prior to a full understanding of implemented guardrails and the clarification issued by the NCAA in May,’ Meier said.

The Cavinder twins were on the forefront of NIL deals among college athletes when the NCAA changes its rules in 2021, immediately signing deals with Boost Mobile and SixStar ProNutrition.

The NCAA said it started an investigation in May, “http://existentialanalysis.ru/ and referenced the April 13 tweet as part of that probe.But the NCAA cannot order Miami to disassociate itself from Ruiz based on a meeting that occurred before rules were changed last year.

‘The (committee on infractions) will strongly consider disassociation penalties in future cases involving NIL-adjacent conduct,’ the NCAA said.

Miami agreed to various other minor sanctions, such as a small fine – $5,000, plus 1 percent of the women’s basketball budget, which the school does not release as a private institution – and a slight reduction in what’s allowed in recruiting.

‘The sanctions that we ultimately agreed to, to bring this to a close, are not (commensurate) with the violation or its intent,’ Miami said in a statement.’Coach Meier is an outstanding coach, role model, teacher … and we stand fully behind her, her program and our ongoing departmental compliance efforts.’

Meier is Miami’s all-time leader in women’s basketball wins with 338, not including the three games that the Hurricanes won without her this season – the NCAA says those cannot be included in her record.She is a past Associated Press coach of the year and a past USA Basketball coach of the year, is a member of the Miami Sports Hall of Fame and the Hall of Honor at Duke, her alma mater.

For years, college sports’ top governing body claimed to be protecting amateurism by penalizing athletes for signing endorsement deals, selling autographs, or making paid appearances, among other violations.But while the NCAA will continue to bar schools from paying athletes directly, the organization caved to outside pressure by lifting NIL restrictions in 2021. 

What was envisioned as a way for college athletes to make some pocket money based on their celebrity has turned into bidding wars for top recruits and transfers who can command millions for their services.State laws have been passed or overturned and funding in some cases is coming from deep-pocketed donors and alumni who have waded into the recruiting wars.

The current frenzy has given rise to serious concerns about recruiting practices and competitive balance and, in turn, questions about where NIL compensation — short for name, image and likeness — goes from here.Will Congress get involved? Will schools take on a primary role?

‘The way this money situation is exploding on schools, they’re going to compete themselves into the ground,’ University of Illinois labor law professor Michael LeRoy said.’They can’t all win under these rules.’

Some would say there are no rules, or that rules set up by the NCAA and in state laws have no teeth and are treated more like suggestions.

‘When you see Nick Saban losing his cool over recruiting, it’s a sure sign that damage is being done at the highest levels of NCAA athletic competition,’ LeRoy said, referring to t he Alabama football coach’s comments in May of 2022, alleging Texas A&M ‘bought every player on their team.’

The NCAA interim NIL policy says there is to be no pay for play, no recruiting inducements and that athletes must provide a service in exchange for pay.With the schools themselves left out of the loop in the wheeling and dealing, so-called booster collectives sprung up to provide earning opportunities — and, critics say, recruiting enticements.

Basketball player Nijel Pack made one of the first big splashes in April.When his transfer from Kansas State to Miami was announced, it was made public he would get a two-year, $800,000 deal with a medical tech company that came with a car. Pack already is featured in an advertisement.

There have been media reports of football and basketball recruits and transfers being promised millions of dollars in NIL deals — all against the rules because they haven’t enrolled.

The NCAA Division I Board of Governors in May warned that enforcement staff would investigate and take action against the most ‘outrageous violations,’ with the schools being penalized for boosters’ improper conduct.