Georgia Tech gets 4 years of probation

Associated Press

ATLANTA

The NCAA put Georgia Tech on four years of probation, fined the school $100,000 and stripped its ACC title game victory from the 2009 football season on Thursday for violations that also included problems in the men’s basketball program.

Georgia Tech did not lose scholarships and was not ruled ineligible for postseason games in either sport, but the basketball team had the number of recruiting days and official visits reduced for the next two seasons.

The NCAA vacated the final three games of the football team’s 2009 season — a loss to rival Georgia, the Atlantic Coast Conference championship win over Clemson and the Orange Bowl loss to Iowa — for using an ineligible player. It was the Yellow Jackets’ first season under coach Paul Johnson.

The NCAA said Georgia Tech should have declared receiver Demaryius Thomas ineligible after he accepted $312 worth of clothing in ’09 from former Yellow Jackets quarterback Calvin Booker, who was working for a sports agent at the time. But the investigation took a harder turn against the school when athletic director Dan Radakovich broke NCAA rules by alerting Johnson that Thomas and safety Morgan Burnett would soon be interviewed.

It seemed obvious to the NCAA that Thomas and Burnett were told to prepare answers to questions they would be asked during the interviews.

Radakovich defended his decision to tell Johnson that Demaryius Thomas and Burnett would be interviewed, and added that he didn’t agree with the findings.

The basketball violations involved a youth basketball tournament held on campus in 2009 and again in 2010. A graduate coaching assistant helped administer both tournaments, violating NCAA prohibitions on scouting.