Almost three weeks after Indiana freshmen Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin were suspended nine games for receiving improper benefits from their AAU coach, the NCAA decided to uphold the ruling Friday afternoon.
The NCAA Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement ruled that the two IU freshmen must sit out the next four games, to go along with the first five they’ve already missed.
The 7-foot Jurkin and 6-foot-8 Mosquera-Perea, according to the NCAA, accepted $6,000 and $8,000, respectively, from an Indiana booster. Over their recruitment, the two received plane tickets, meals, housing, a laptop, a cell phone, and clothing.
The impermissible benefits, according to the NCAA, came from AAU coach, Mark Adams, who donated a whopping $185 dollars to Indiana from 1986-1992. These donations, which Adams claimed the largest sum of money he gave at one time was $30, labeled Adams as a booster.
Adams, who coached Indiana Elite AAU, is the founder/president of A-HOPE Foundation, with the sole purpose to provide deserving student-athletes with a student visa and an opportunity to receive an education, according to the organizations website.
According to the NCAA report, Mosquera-Perea and Jurkin lived with Adams in Bloomington during several summers and it press release specifically stated that he had signed financial aid documents required for two former Indiana University basketball student-athletes in 2008 and 2010.
The two freshmen needed special permission to travel with the team to Brooklyn earlier this week for the Legends Classic. They walked into the Barclays Center to a loud ovation from the Indiana faithful. Mosquera-Perea and Jurkin can take the floor on Dec. 15 against Butler.
The university has decided to suspend its relationship with Adams until July 1, 2013, according to the report.
Terrence is also the lead writer at NEHoopNews.com and can be followed on Twitter: @terrence_payne