R. Kelly saw nothing wrong with a little bumping but on Friday the NCAA did.
After an investigation stemming from a violation of NCAA bylaw 13.1.1.1 that ended up leading to the resignation of former Florida wide receivers coach Joker Phillips in June of 2014, a Committee on Infractions from college sports’ governing body decided not to impose any penalties for a level-II violation (one the NCAA deems significant). It found what the school did was enough in dealing with the situation. UF ceased recruiting of the player in question, a wide receiver that signed with a power-five school and was, according to a report released by the COI highly regarded by UF. The school also suspended Phillips for 30 days.
“The University of Florida Athletic Association takes pride in the culture of compliance it has built over the years. Integrity is one of the core values of our organization - we act in a fair, ethical and honest manner and we strive to do things the right way every day,” athletics director Jeremy Foley said in a statement. “We thank the NCAA Committee on Infractions for their thoughtful deliberation. We look forward to putting this issue behind us and we will continue to operate with the highest level of integrity and compliance.”
On Jan. 23 2014, Phillips (now a coach with the Cleveland Browns) and a recruiting beat writer he had known since 2008 went to the wide receiver’s high school so Phillips could “bump” into him to obtain contact information for him. After Phillips landed in the prospect’s area, he followed the writer in a seperate car to the player’s school after initially going to the wrong campus. Philips was told by the writer that the player would be waiting outside the school after the writer obtained the correct location from the player.
The “bump” occurred when Phillips and the writer arrived at the player’s location. The writer went to “make a phone call” according to the report and Phillips and the player just so happened to be in the same vicinity in the school’s parking lot. Phillips spoke to the player and had the player put his social media contact information into his phone. He did this because it was permissible under NCAA rules to contact an athlete via social media, and while phone numbers often change social media accounts typically do not. During an interview with the NCAA, Phillips said he “may have” asked the player to come on a visit to UF as well.
The player said the writer texted him earlier that day saying there was “a surprise” and that “a special somebody” would be coming to the school that day. When the two met, the player said Phillips delivered a normal recruiting pitch.
“The prospect then gave the assistant coach a social media "follow" on the assistant coach's phone,” the COI release stated. “The prospect did not recall the assistant coach saying that he could not talk to the prospect. Regardless of the exact length of the conversation and the exact words spoken, the panel found that the assistant coach and prospect had a face-to-face encounter on the prospect's high school campus that included dialogue in excess of an exchange of a greeting.”
Because of Phillips’ initial tardiness, the player missed his bus and the writer drove him to where he needed to be and Phillips went to meet the player’s 7-on-7 coach.
On Feb. 28 2014, the NCAA enforcement staff contacted Florida letting the school know that the organization was investigating a potential violation. On March 19, Phillips was informed that he would be interviewed the next day, during which Phillips said he “misinterpreted” the NCAA rules and that his contact was not impermissible because it was short. He said It was important to have direct contact with the athlete as did coach Will Muschamp, who was also interviewed. On an NCAA conference call Friday, the infractions committee stated that to its knowledge, Phillips acted alone.
While the school and Phillips insisted their violation was level-III, the COI decided it was level-II. Mitigating factors including prompt acknowledgment of the school of the violation and an established history of reporting secondary violations as well as Philips’ acceptance of responsibility led to the COI going along with the sanctions self-imposed by UF.
Follow Richard Johnson on Twitter @RagjUF
Former Florida wide receivers coach Joker Phillips watches the Gators warm up before Florida’s 24-7 victorty against Kentucky on Sept. 28 in Lexington, Ky. Phillips resigned Wednesday after just one year as UF’s wide receivers coach.
