NCAA reduces Nick Emery's benefits on BYU, cancels wins, puts probation on basketball team

The men's basketball team at Brigham Young University must leave two seasons, eliminate a scholarship and will be on probation for an additional two years for travel and other benefits made available to guard Nick Emery, announced the NCAA Friday.

BYU has won 48 games in those two seasons where Emery has been playing for BYU. According to the NCAA press release, the Cougars "have gained the benefit of an ineligible player for two seasons".

The university issued a statement in which it said it was disappointed by this decision and claimed that the NCAA had not eliminated victories for schools associated with similar violations. BYU will appeal, says the release.

For the moment, BYU will be penalized with:

The NCAA press release did not use Emery's name, but BYU's.

The Tribune explained in October 2017 how Emery, a Cougars guard, had gone to amusement parks and concerts with Brandon Tyndall, a senior executive of the Tyndall Family Travel Company, Fun For Less Tours, and a member of the Cougar Club, BYU's promotional organization. Emery also drove a Volkswagen Jetta that had been rented by Tyndall.

Tyndall does not appear in the NCAA and BYU reports, although the descriptions in the NCAA report mention free trips and a car that corresponds to it. The NCAA wrote that BYU had already cut ties with Tyndall, who did not immediately return Tribune messages requesting comment.

According to the NCAA, two other players organized golf outings and meals at a country club in Emery. One of them left $ 200 to Emery in the basketball locker room. A fourth reminder allowed Emery to spend the weekend in a complex, announced the NCAA.

The NCAA news release indicated that the Offenses Committee (IOC) was concerned about the "unsupervised access" that the boosters had to Emery and the men's basketball program.

"The IOC was particularly disturbed by the fact that one of the rappers had access to the men's basketball locker room and was using this access to provide money to the student-athlete," the statement said. NCAA. "The fact that a Brigham Young mentorship program connected one of the stimulants to the student-athlete was also of concern to the IOC."

In total, the NCAA said the boosters provided $ 12,000 on all-inclusive vacations, cash, meals, golf and car use. Of this amount, $ 10,000 came from the recall corresponding to Tyndall's description.

BYU published an answer that defended coach David Rose and his program.

"From the beginning, BYU has considered potential breaches as a serious matter and we have cooperated in every way possible to revise the NCAA. There was no institutional knowledge or involvement in the offenses. In fact, the NCAA found that Coach Rose promotes an atmosphere of compliance and monitors the program, "reads the release.

He continued: "Given the details of the case, the penalty for termination of registration is extremely harsh and unprecedented. For more than two decades, the NCAA did not force an institution to cancel its matches in similar cases where the CDI found that there was no institutional knowledge or involvement in the violation, whether it was coaches or other staff of the university. In fact, this sanction includes the most severe penalty for a registration vacation ever taken in the history of NCAA Division I for offenses involving no knowledge or institutional involvement. In addition, in the most similar cases, appropriate sanctions were imposed, but no victory was canceled. BYU believes that the termination penalty is unfair and inconsistent with the NCAA precedents. The university plans to appeal the decision.

Rose added in a Friday statement: "I am very disappointed with today's NCAA decision. I strongly support the project of the university to appeal the decision. That being said, I focus on our team and [Friday’s] play with Utah Valley. "

The last NCAA sanctioned BYU sports program was the men's volleyball team. He was penalized twice from 2008 to 2011 for providing inappropriate benefits to the players.

The Tribune will update this story.