Current Missouri men’s basketball coach and former Miami coach Frank Haith has been suspended for the first five regular season games of the season as penalty for his actions in the two year long Nevin Shapiro scandal.
On Tuesday, the NCAA handed out sanctions for its case against the University of Miami that involved former boosters and convicted felon Nevin Shapiro.
Haith will miss games against Southeastern Louisiana (Nov. 8), Southern Illinois (Nov. 12), Hawaii (Nov. 16), Gardner-Webb (Nov. 23) and IUPUI (Nov. 25).
In a press conference Tuesday afternoon Haith said he does not agree with the ruling but does not want to put his family or the university though any more.
“This signifies closure, we can move forward, and understand this is not an admission of guilt because I do not agree with the findings of the NCAA,” said Haith.
Haith will miss the first five games of the regular season but is still allowed to recruit during that time. He is also looking into specifics on what kind of day to day involvement he can have with the team.
Mike Alden, University of Missouri Athletic Director, said he is proud of Haith and what he has done for the basketball program and he has their full support as they put the ruling behind them.
“The University of Missouri also will not appeal this to the NCAA. We certainly are supportive of Coach Haith, we’re supportive of the job he’s doing with our basketball program at the University of Missouri and we too are looking forward to closure on this,” said Alden.
Haith has also seen support from former players. Haith said former MU basketball player Lawrence Bowers reached out to him via text message saying he had learned about adversity by watching Haith go through this investigation.
No decision has been made as to who will be the acting head coach during Haith’s suspension.
As part of the NCAA sanctions, Miami’s football team will lose nine scholarships and the men’s basketball team will lose three, as part of the penalties the school was handed Tuesday by the NCAA as the Nevin Shapiro scandal presumably drew to a close.
But for the first time since 2010, the football team will be permitted to appear in a postseason game.
The school will also serve three years of probation. Three former Miami basketball assistant coaches were also handed two-year show-cause bans.
Even though the NCAA said Miami lacked “institutional control” when it came to monitoring Shapiro, the university is accepting the decision and does not plan to appeal.
