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The National Collegiate Athletic Association on Tuesday reinstated eight football players whom the University of Miami had declared ineligible last week after news broke that they got improper benefits from a booster, but the association required most of them to sit out games and to repay the value of the goods they received. The players include Miami’s quarterback, who must sit out the season opener next week. The athlete who will sit out the most games -- six -- received more than $1,200 in benefits, the NCAA said. The benefits included food, transportation and nightclub cover charges. In addition to those eight, five other players who were implicated in the investigation have been cleared to participate, but one was suspended indefinitely. Miami responded to the news with its own statement saying it "will be more vigilant" when it comes to compliance.
The university itself is still under a separate investigation (through the NCAA's enforcement process, as opposed to its system for determining player eligibility) into whether officials knew about the scandal. Tuesday's announcement about eligibility decisions includes some language that could suggest trouble ahead for Miami: in several cases it notes that players received money or gifts not only from the booster, Nevin Shapiro, but from "athletics personnel," suggesting that the NCAA has concluded that university employees participated in the wrongdoing.
