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NCAA opens investigation into high school powerhouse Notre Dame Prep (Mass.)

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As the NCAA continues to crack down on so-called “diploma mills” that supposedly clean up academic records before high-major players move on to college, Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) is the next in the NCAA’s crosshairs, according to Yahoo! Sports.

The report says that the NCAA is looking into “academic and eligibility issues, financial irregularities and recruiting practices” at the school, now in the wake of two higher-profile rulings of NCAA ineligibility for former athletes at the Massachusetts prep school.

“They seemed to be focused on academic issues at Notre Dame Prep, but they asked about a number of other issues as well, how tuition payments worked, visits by assistant coaches from certain schools, the behavior of specific players and general life within the program,” Everett Swain, the father of a former Notre Dame Prep player, told Yahoo!.

Sam Cassell Jr., the son of the former NBA guard and current Washington Wizards assistant, was ruled academically ineligible at Maryland and eventually enrolled at Chipola Junior College (Fla.) for this season.

Myles Davis, a sharpshooting guard headed to Xavier, must sit out this season and is not on scholarship, meaning he must pay his own way through school for this year.

Notre Dame Prep is not alone in being reviewed, as the report points out, with over 50 schools under the same sort of evaluation.

The report goes on to detail more from Swain, who spoke about the unchallenging academic environment that the school supposedly offers, claiming that players received A’s just for showing up, but often slept in class and had no incentive to pay attention.

If there are significant findings by the NCAA, the school could be deemed “not cleared,” voiding all of the schools offerings when it comes to players attempting to gain initial eligibility with the NCAA, effectively drying up the strong flow of high-major talent to the school.

To read the full report, click here.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_