When former Auburn player Eric Ramsey first detailed his pay-for-play allegations, coach Pat Dye predicted his program would escape NCAA sanctions.
Dye, who was forced out because of the scandal, was wrong.Two years after the allegations surfaced, the NCAA on Wednesday levied two years' probation on Auburn after investigating Ramsey's allegations and finding them true.
Among the rules violations by Auburn University's football program as cited Wednesday by the NCAA:
- Payments to Ramsey during December 1989 to spring 1991 in the form of money orders and merchandise, totaling at least $4,000, by a booster. The violation parallels Ramsey's claim of substantial help from Auburn booster Corky Frost of Lilburn, Ga.
- During 1988-89, an assistant coach relayed $500 in cash to Ramsey in two installments from a booster. Ramsey alleged payments came from a booster in Homewood, Ala., Don Kirkpatrick, with the help of then-assistant coach Larry Blakeney, who is now the coach at Troy State.
- On numerous occasions in 1988-89, an administrative assistant made cash payments to Ramsey. The former player claimed such payments were made by then-recruiting coordinator Frank Young.
- An unsecured loan of $9,209.99 was made for Ramsey by Colonial Bank in Auburn, violating NCAA rules by having a deferred-payment provision based on future pro earnings. The loan was made with a referral by Dye, a director at the bank. The NCAA said another six athletes received deferred-payment loans during 1986 to September 1992.
- Dye was aware that athletes were applying for loans, but no system was in place to make sure they were within NCAA rules. Dye also referred athletes to the bank for loans, based on their payback potential, while knowing it violated NCAA rules.
- Seven former athletes and one current athlete in the fall of 1992 had delinquent room and board bills dating back as much as five years. All were walk-ons, but they were considered grant-in-aid recipients under NCAA rules because of the unpaid room and board. As a result, Auburn exceeded grant-in-aid limits by one during each of two years.