Fordham Hit With Rare NIL Era NCAA Sanctions

Apparently NCAA investigations still exist. 

Since the legalization of NIL (name, image, and likeness) payments in 2021, the words NCAA and investigation haven’t spent much time together. Most pre-2021 probes revolved around impermissible recruiting benefits to players that have since become legal. 

Fordham is being reminded the NCAA still enforces what rules do remain on its books. 

On Tuesday, the Rams men’s basketball program was hit with three years of probation, a $35,000 fine, and various recruiting sanctions, including a reduction in official visits.

The NCAA found that the basketball staff committed Level II violations between 2021 and 2023 by paying for recruits to attend various activities that exceeded the $75 per day limit on entertainment spending by taking them to local sporting events such as Knicks, Nets, and Giants games. The charges exceeded the $75 limit by as little as $35 to as high as nearly $5,600.  

The staff also committed smaller infractions, such as trips to the bowling alley and, in one instance, renting Jet Skis for a recruit. 

The NCAA also cracked down on the Rams for 24 Times Square photo shoots, which violated the NCAA’s publicity-before-signing rules.

A Fordham spokesperson declined to comment. 

Former athletic director Edward Kull, who is now in the same role at St. John’s; head coach Keith Urgo; and director of basketball operations Trevonn Morton were found to have been the primary perpetrators. Morton was hit with a three-year “show cause” penalty while Urgo and Kull were hit with two- and one-year show causes, respectively. 

A show-cause sanction in the NCAA requires a school to demonstrate why it shouldn’t be punished for hiring the coach or administrator who has been given one. 

The NCAA also vacated all team records from 2021 to 2023, which included the 2022–2023 season, when the Rams went 25–8 and set a program record for wins in a season. Urgo was fired in March after following up his debut 25-win season with two losing ones and was replaced by UC Riverside coach Mike Magpayo. 

Urgo unloaded on the investigation to the New York Post, accusing the NCAA of making the probe bigger than it had to be. 

“They were treating me like I was some criminal, literally like I had broken some laws,” Urgo said. “They were just trying to do whatever they could to pin a Level 1 violation on us and none of it made any sense. We were just all confused, including all the lawyers in this situation, confused as to why they were just being so aggressive and trying to do whatever they could to bury us.”