The NCAA announced Tuesday that Notre Dame’s appeal in the University’s academic misconduct case was denied, meaning Notre Dame will vacate all of its football victories from the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.
University President Fr. John Jenkins released a statement Tuesday morning saying Notre Dame is “deeply disappointed by and strongly disagree with the denial of the University’s appeal.”
Notre Dame’s appeal rested largely on the fact that the academic misconduct was committed by one undergraduate student trainer, not a series of institutional figures, and that the University self-reported the violations to the NCAA once it was aware of them.
“At best, the NCAA’s decision in this case creates a randomness of outcome based solely on how an institution chooses to define its honor code; at worst, it creates an incentive for colleges and universities to change their honor codes to avoid sanctions like that imposed here,” Jenkins said in the statement.
“In this case, the University acknowledged the academic misconduct impacted the eligibility of student-athletes and resulted in student-athletes competing while ineligible,” the NCAA stated in a press release. “The appeals committee found the panel has the authority under NCAA rules to prescribe penalties for academic misconduct violations.”
Of the two players that committed academic misconduct with the trainer, one competed while ineligible during the 2012 football season, while the other competed while ineligible throughout the 2013 season. The third player that committed academic misconduct played in five games of the 2013 season.
The investigation began following the so-called “Frozen Five” case in 2014, where five then-Irish football players — wide receiver DaVaris Daniels, safety Eilar Hardy, linebacker Kendall Moore, cornerback KeiVarae Russell and defensive lineman Ishaq Williams — were suspended from the team, with Daniels, Moore, Russell and Williams being dismissed from the University. Hardy returned to action later in the 2014 season, while Russell and Williams each were readmitted to the University in 2015. Russell returned to the field for Notre Dame in 2015, but Williams did not.
The NCAA handed down its original decision in November of 2016. Notre Dame football went 12-1 in the 2012-13 season, losing only to Alabama in the BCS national championship game, and went 9-4 in 2013-14.
