Former Tennessee State soccer coach Jeremy Pruitt, his wife and several members of his soccer team provided nearly $60,000 in disallowed benefits and recruiting temptations to more than two dozen recruits and their families over a three-year period, according to a notice of allegations from the NCAA, a copy obtained From Sports Illustrated By requesting public records.
The 51-page document sent to the school Friday identifies 18 separate allegations of blatant recruiting misconduct from Pruitt and his staff as early as September 2018, his 10th month in business, and extending through the dead COVID-19 recruiting period of 2020. All allegations are from Level The first, and considered the most egregious on the scale of NCAA offenses.
In the most serious allegation, Pruitt and his staff hosted at least six prospective and their families on nine informal weekend visits during the year-long death period, providing them housing, meals, transportation, household goods and even furniture, totaling $12,000. Pruitt himself is accused of making cash payments of $3,000 and $6,000 to two potential nations, one used to help with medical bills and the other to pay a down payment on the car.
Tennessee fired Pruitt for some reason in 2021 and did not pay his $12.6 million acquisition.
Calvin Mattis / News Sentinel via Imagine Content Services
In all, Pruitt and seven employees are accused of abuse, all of whom were fired in January 2021 after an internal university investigation uncovered alleged wrongdoing. The list includes defensive coordinator Derek Ansley, outside quarterback coach Shelton Felton, inside quarterback coach Brian Niedermayer, player personnel manager Drew Hughes, recruiting director Bethany Jean, assistant recruiting director Chantres Boone and a student assistant whose name has been removed from the report. .
The ninth person accused of the abuse, Pruitt Casey’s wife, allegedly paid cash in the amount of At least $13,000 for recruits and their families. Casey once worked in compliance with NCAA rules at Troy University, her alma mater, and the state of Florida.
The document says as many as 12 UT athletes who received improper benefits have competed in more than 60 games. The NCAA says these athletes played while they were “ineligible.” The number of players and games is unclear due to revisions.
Despite its 18 first-level violations — one of the highest overall numbers in recent years considering LSU earned eight first-level breaks in March — the university has not experienced a “lack of institutional oversight”, largely because of its transparency and its integrity in dealing promptly with wrongdoing, NCAA documents say. The organization demonstrated strong cooperation with NCAA investigators, conducted its own thorough internal investigations, and took immediate steps to fire and self-punish employees. Sources told SI that the university canceled itself 12 football scholarships last season, in addition to imposing several conscription penalties.
“Receiving the notice of the allegations was an expected and necessary step in this process — a process that our university began proactively with decisive and transparent action,” Tennessee Athletic Director Danny White said in a statement Friday. This brings us one step closer to reaching a final solution. Until we get to this point, I cannot discuss the issue in any detail. As a university, we understand the need to take responsibility for what happened, but we remain committed to protecting our current and future student-athletes.”
The internal investigation in Utah included more than 100 interviews. Former NCAA investigator Michael Glazier and law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King assisted in the investigation.
The NCAA’s 18-month investigation ended at an interesting time in the college sports industry. As the NCAA transforms in a number of ways, including reforming the infractions process, athletes are compensated through name, image and likeness deals that provide, in many ways, benefits similar to those listed in the allegations notice. Tennessee has one of the largest and most ambitious collegiate groups in the country, although the school is not affiliated with it.
NCAA documents say the Tennessee investigation, cooperation and response, led by White and his new staff, should be the “standard” in such inquiries. White took charge of retiring Philip Vollmer in January 2021, days after Pruitt and staff were fired. One of his first acts was to hire Josh Hubel from Central Florida. Heupel won seven games in his first year and was signed to the top 18 class in the country. The Vols 2023 class is currently ranked seventh.
Tennessee has 90 days to respond to the allegations and is not expected to challenge the charges. Due to UT’s own response, as well as the reformed NCAA infractions process, the university is in a strong position to evade the most severe penalties.
The NCAA is in the final stages of adopting a wrongdoing reform policy with a penalty structure that focuses less on post-season bans. The intent is to avoid penalties that would affect players who were not in school when the violations occurred, with penalties focused more on specifically offenders, such as coaches.
Under the NCAA’s new penalty structure, Pruitt is at risk of being sanctioned in other jobs, if he gets another job in college sports. The NCAA holds him primarily responsible for the alleged violations, noting that he did not pretend and fostered an atmosphere of compliance and failed to properly monitor his staff.
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Nine of the 18 allegations involve Tennessee coaches or employees who provide additional benefits to recruits and their families, mostly during unofficial visits to college campuses. Seven of the allegations individually accuse each employee of violating NCAA “ethical conduct”, three of them (John, Niedermayer and Felton) have provided false or misleading information to NCAA and university investigators, the documents said.
Pruitt’s last two accusations have failed to fulfill his coach’s duties of responsibility and the league has failed to monitor its football program. None of Vollmer or any other sporting director were mentioned in the report at the time the alleged offense was committed. Rent Vollmer Pruitt.
Casey Pruitt arranged for representatives to give the recruit’s mother a tour of rental homes in the Knoxville area.
Calvin Mattis / News Sentinel, Knoxville News Sentinel via Imagine Content Service
Pruitt and his wife were practical, paying the recruits and their families more than $25,000 in cash, according to the allegations. Casey Pruitt also arranged for representatives to give the recruit’s mother a tour of rental homes in the Knoxville area and offered $1,600 for one possibility for a security deposit and the first month’s rent. She also paid $12,000 in rent payments to a potential client or his family. Employees, including Jeremy Pruitt, paid seven current footballers $1,300 to host leads during the dead period.
During the COVID-19 enlistment period, NCAA Vice President for Enforcement John Duncan issued a warning to schools that recruitment during that time will be vigorously investigated. He followed up with a statement nine months later that said in part, “Law enforcement understands the importance of these behaviors, and we are actively engaging with them to ensure fairness for schools that abide by the rules.”
For Pruitt and the staff, the extras went beyond cash — they paid for hotel rooms, some at the Crowne Plaza in Knoxville, airline tickets, dozens of meals and more. In one allegation, coaches handed over $500 in college clothing to prospects while they were under the cover of a parking garage. In another case, employees paid $225 in nail salon treatments to families. During a casual visit, coaches took potential clients and family members on a fishing trip that included a meal from the famous Calhoun restaurant in Knoxville and coaches spending $175 on a meal for a potential family at Dead End BBQ.
On at least two occasions, Employees spent $225 at McDonald’s on potential customers and their families, even though the bags of fast food included only food and not cash, radio and TV presenter Dan Patrick mistakenly reported. The staff also purchased Chick-fil-A breakfasts for the recruits.
During his three years in Knoxville, Pruitt was heralded as an elite recruiter, working under the supervision of the best of them – Nick Saban in Alabama and Kirby Smart in Georgia. The full signature chapters in 2019 and 2020 were ranked 13th and 11th nationally. However, the Volunteers only went from 16 to 19 in his three seasons, winning only three games in his final year. The school fired him for some reason, and refused to pay $12.6 million to buy him. Pruitt’s attorney, Michael Lyons, threatened a lawsuit if the school did not reach a settlement with his client. So far, no lawsuit is known to have been filed.
Pruitt is now believed to have dropped out of training after a one-year stint on the New York Giants coaching staff. Pruitt and the other staff were fired when the Giants fired coach Joe Judge last January.
None of the other employees listed on the NCAA document are believed to be in the college’s ranks. Ansley, who spent two stints under Saban in Alabama, is now the defensive back coach for the Los Angeles Chargers. Hughes is the Director of Player Personnel at Jaguars. Felton is a coach at Valdosta High School in Georgia, and Niedermayer is the defensive coordinator at IMG Academy in Florida. The career status of Gunn and Boone is unclear.
The allegations come after 11 years of an NCAA investigation that found violations serious enough by basketball coach Bruce Pearl that the school fired him. He received a three-year sentence showing cause. In the same investigation, it was revealed that then coach Lynn Kevin and the staff committed 12 minor violations over the course of 10 months. The school imposed self-monitoring and conscription penalties in basketball and football.
Both Pearl and Kevin have returned to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Pearl in Auburn and Kevin in Ole Miss.
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