By SCHUYLER DIXON, AP News.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The NCAA put the TCU men’s basketball program on three years’ probation Tuesday and punished a former assistant coach it accused of accepting $6,000 from a business management company and then lying to the school about it.
The school avoided scholarship reductions and limits on recruiting imposed on other programs in a federal corruption case that has ensnared several big-name schools. TCU was fined $5,000 and 1% of its men’s basketball budget.
TCU placed assistant Corey Barker on administrative leave in March 2019 after he was accused in court documents of accepting the money in a Las Vegas hotel room two years earlier.
The NCAA said Barker denied any knowledge or involvement in arrests in the federal case during an investigation by TCU. Barker twice declined to be interviewed by TCU officials not long before he was placed on leave, the NCAA said.
Barker, who also denied involvement during the NCAA’s investigation after agreeing to be interviewed, was given a five-year show-cause penalty, meaning a school that hires him during that period must prove to the NCAA he can perform athletic-related duties.
The federal fraud case led to the convictions of aspiring agent Christopher Dawkins, former Adidas executive James Gatto and former Adidas consultant Merl Code.
Former Creighton assistant Preston Murphy also was accused of taking $6,000. Creighton was placed on two years’ probation along with restrictions on scholarships and recruiting.