2011 University of Miami athletics scandal

In 2011, the University of Miami Hurricanes football and men's basketball programs were investigated for NCAA rules violations alleged to have taken place from 2002 to 2010, centering on improper benefits given by booster Nevin Shapiro, and reported by investigative reporters at Yahoo! Sports.

The Miami Hurricanes, particularly the football team, have experienced a number of past scandals. In 1994, The Miami Herald reported that 2 Live Crew member Luther Campbell and several NFL players had offered a "pay-for-play" system from 1986 through 1992, giving cash rewards for acts such as scoring touchdowns and big hits. This allegation was verified in the subsequent NCAA investigation, which also found that the "head football coach and the associate director of athletics for compliance and internal operations were aware" of the payments.

Also in 1994, former University of Miami academic advisor Tony Russell pleaded guilty to helping 57 football players and more than 23 other scholarship athletes in falsifying applications for Pell Grants. From 1989 to 1992, Russell helped players receive more than $220,000 of grants, which federal officials later called "perhaps the largest centralized fraud ... ever committed" against the Pell Grant program. As a result of the scandal, Alexander Wolff wrote a Sports Illustrated cover story suggesting Miami should temporarily shutter the football program and that athletic director Paul Dee should be fired.

In 1995, the NCAA announced that the University of Miami had also provided or allowed "more than $412,000 of excessive aid" to student-athletes between 1990 and 1994, failed to implement its drug testing program, and lost institutional control over the football program. That December the NCAA announced that Miami's multiple infractions would result in severe sanctions, including a one-year ban from postseason play and a 31-scholarship reduction from 1996 to 1999. In addition to the football team, the violations also involved Miami's baseball, men's tennis, and women's golf teams.

...
Wikipedia