The Utah men’s basketball program was hit with two years of probation and associate head coach Tommy Connor was given a one-year show-cause penalty as a result of recruiting violations that were committed in the spring of 2018.
The NCAA’s Division I Committee on Infractions found that the program committed two Level II violations and a Level III violation. In addition to the probation and Connor’s show-cause, Utah self-imposed a handful of recruiting restrictions that have already taken effect.
According to the release sent out by the NCAA, an assistant coach evaluated a JuCo recruit and visited a high school prospect during a quiet period in April of 2018. The committee also determined that Connor coordinated with a local JuCo coach to get the high school prospect on the university’s campus for a visit. The JuCo paid for the prospect’s trip, which not only classified the JuCo’s head coach as a booster - making his contact with the prospect a violation - but it meant that Utah exceeded the number of allowable official visits - another violation.
The entire coaching staff received a Level II violation for the recruiting violations, while head coach Larry Krystkowiak received a separate Level II violation due to the head coach responsibility bylaws. The Level III violation came as a result of the coaching staff watching Krystkowiak’s son “observed the head coach’s prospect-aged son participating with members of the men’s basketball team in a practice activity.”