Oregon in trouble? Women’s basketball facing NCAA allegations

The University of Oregon is in trouble with the NCAA following potential infractions by its women’s and men’s basketball programs, and track and field.

According to the school, the charges in regards to the women’s basketball program are as follows:

Allegation 7 charges that head women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves failed to properly promote an atmosphere of compliance under the head coach responsibility bylaw. The charge stems from strength and conditioning staff members participating in on-court drills and assisting in voluntary workouts outside the presence of the coaching staff (outlined in allegation 4). The charge of head coach responsibility is, again, not justified and falls short of the legislation’s intent and case precedent. The violation also should be charged as an impermissible coaching activities infraction.

“I regret that some members of my staff made errors of judgment, and I have taken actions to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” Graves said via the university. “I am steadfastly committed to building a winning program at the UO that operates in full compliance with NCAA bylaws and is committed to the highest levels of integrity.”

The charge is considered a serious one since Graves is named specifically and the NCAA is accusing him of not monitoring his staff from “at least December 2016 through April 2017,” according to the notice of allegations presented to the school.

Men’s coach Dana Altman is also specifically named in charges from the NCAA, when it comes to conducting “prohibited workouts”

According to the university’s website, the school “acknowledges that infractions occurred and takes responsibility for the actions of the involved staff members. The university, however, disagrees with the level of infraction that NCAA enforcement staff has assigned to some of the charges as well as with the decision to level charges against two of our head coaches.”

“Coach Altman and coach Graves are committed to compliance with NCAA bylaws, they have the highest ethical standards on and off the court, and each acknowledges the infractions that took place within their programs,” said University of Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullens.

“In both cases, our monitoring program identified the issues and they were reported to the NCAA. We have addressed the matters with the responsible employees and enhanced compliance training within the department. These cases do not merit the level of charges against the coaches sought by the NCAA.”

The women’s basketball team is currently 10-2 this season and takes on Hawai’i today in Las Vegas at 3 p.m. ET.

The university is expected to provide detailed evidence in response to the notice within 90 days.