The NCAA officially announced on Friday that it has agreed on penalties with Kentucky for Level II violations within its football program. The violations involved at least 11 football players receiving improper benefits for work not performed between spring 2021 and March 2022.
Eight of these players competed while ineligible. The NCAA’s investigation did not find evidence of a failure to monitor within the football program.
“The enforcement staff and school agreed that no staff member in the athletics department knew or reasonably should have known about the payment for work not performed, and thus the violations involving the football program did not provide additional support for the agreed-upon failure-to-monitor violation,” the NCAA’s statement read.
As part of the resolution, Kentucky will face two years of probation and a fine. The university must also vacate records of any wins in which the ineligible players participated. These vacated wins are likely from the 2021 and 2022 seasons, during which Kentucky posted a 17-9 record. Ten of those wins came during the 2021 season, in which the Wildcats won the Citrus Bowl and finished ranked 18th in the AP Top 25.
