In the age of NIL, where schools are spending millions on players and coaching staffs are tampering players away from programs, the NCAA has just handed out a hefty punishment to a mid-major team for recruiting violations.
The Fordham Rams, who this past season finished 12-21 and missed out on the NCAA Tournament for a 33rd-consecutive season, were punished heavily by the NCAA on Tuesday on grounds of recruiting violations.
The ruling states that the Fordham coaching staff, on eight occasions, paid for recruits to enjoy activities that exceeded the NCAA's $75 per day limit on entertaining spending. Fordham's campus is located in the Bronx, N.Y., meaning these activities, which looked to highlight what was in the area of the Rams' campus, were of high profile.
"These activities included trips for players and their parents to see the New York Giants, New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and U.S. Open sporting events," the report said.
The Fordham Ram's Joe Henry and Jonah Ring reported that that was not all.
"Furthermore, on 24 other separate occasions the team paid for a professional photographer to publicly capture film of prospective student-athletes in Times Square — an action in direct violation of the NCAA’s publicity-before-signing rules," they said.
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As a result, Fordham has been forced to vacate victories from the 2021-23 seasons, due to the involvement of two different rostered players who were considered ineligible “as a result of the impermissible benefits.”
The Rams will vacate a total of 41 victories. That includes the 25-8 season that the Rams had in 2022-23, a season that tied the program record for most wins in a year.
"The team has been placed on probation – a period of heightened scrutiny and regulation – for three years," Henry and Ring said. "As part of this, the team will be barred from participating in the July 2025 recruiting window. They will also pay a fine of $35,000 plus 2% of the team’s allocated budget."
New head coach Mike Magpayo will be dealt a tough hand to start his time at Fordham. He joined the program this offseason after five years with UC Riverside.
Notable, however, is that the violators named in the case — then head coach Keith Urgo, director of basketball operations Trevonn Morton, and athletic director Edward Kull — are not with Fordham anymore.
"Urgo was fired in March following the team’s season — the University did not mention whether the NCAA’s investigation had to do with the decision," The Fordham Ram's Joe Henry and Jonah Ring said. "Morton and Kull are also no longer with the program, as Kull left Fordham to become the Athletic Director at St. John’s University in September of 2024, while Morton departed during the regime change to new Head Coach Mike Magpayo."
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