“Factually untrue,” the chancellor of the University of Tennessee replies to the NCAA president in the midst of a NIL probe…….
Ploughman responds by claiming that the NCAA’s plans to pursue the claims are false and could harm student athletes.
A University of Tennessee source with knowledge of the matter claims that the investigation is focused on Name, Image, and Likeness practices.
WVLT – KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Chancellor of the University of Tennessee Donde Ploughman corresponded with NCAA President Charlie Baker on Monday after the NCAA conducted an inquiry into Tennessee’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies. Here is a summary of the letter that WVLT News obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request to UT on Tuesday.
In the letter, Ploughman criticises the NCAA’s intentions to pursue claims that she believes are false and potentially harm student athletes.
“Members of your enforcement staff met with a team from the University of Tennessee earlier today to discuss the allegations the NCAA plans to bring against Tennessee regarding NIL,” Ploughman states. “The accusations made by the NCAA are procedurally flawed and factually false.”
Less than a year after the University of Tennessee was penalised $8 million for recruiting violations committed while Jeremey Pruitt was the head football coach, the NCAA started investigating the university, according to the letter.
The Tennessee system itself willingly reported those infractions, and the school’s integrity was a major factor in the NCAA’s ultimate determination regarding
“As demonstrated by our prior interactions with the NCAA, we at the University of Tennessee own up to our mistakes,” Ploughman stated. “In fact, we set the standard other schools should follow,” stated the Division I Committee on Infractions and the NCAA enforcement staff in reference to the University of Tennessee’s excellent cooperation just a year ago.
She continues by criticising the idea that Tennessee’s leadership should be praised in the summer of 2023 and then subjected to criticism the following academic year.
“It is unthinkable that, just six months after being cited as a warning sign of a lack of institutional control, our institution’s leadership would be cited as an example of exemplary leadership in July 2023,” Ploughman
Despite Tennessee’s full compliance with the most recent NCAA guidance on non-institutional relationships, Ploughman maintains that the NCAA is attempting to penalise colleges and make an example of them by applying regulations retroactively. She strengthens her case by citing a newly enacted NCAA bylaw that eliminates the presumption of innocence for colleges under investigation in NIL cases.
“A “guilty until proven innocent” criterion, according to Ploughman, “violates the essential premise of innocent until proven guilty in our country’s legal system and is not conducive to partnership or problem-solving.”
The NCAA gave the following comment when WVLT News contacted them on the probe, according to Associate Director of Communications Meghan Durham Wright:
The NCAA, with very few exceptions, does not comment on ongoing.
