Coastal Carolina announced Monday that the NCAA's inquiry into its men's basketball program determined the Chanticleers committed a secondary violation and the program will receive no further penalties.
The Chants suspended leading scorer Desmond Holloway late last season due to eligibility concerns. Holloway later told The Sun News the inquiry was concerning a t-shirt he received and that he had repaid the value of the shirt. He was not cleared to return the rest of the season, though, and soon announced he was leaving school and forfeiting his senior year.
In its announcement Monday, Coastal provided a copy of a letter it received from the NCAA on Friday, bringing a resolution to the matter.
The letter explained that Holloway received "an institutionally-issued shirt, valued at $25 and not available for purchase by the general public." The shirt was specified as a Nike Dri-Fit shirt and was taken "from the residence of another student-athlete during [Holloway's] official visit to the institution" in March 2010.
The NCAA letter goes on to say that Holloway "did not return the shirt prior to departing campus, and subsequently wore the shirt on the date [he] signed a National Letter of Intent with the institution. The violation was discovered after the director of athletics and the assistant athletics director for compliance were shown a photograph of [Holloway] wearing the shirt during a National Letter of Intent signing ceremony at his two-year institution. During subsequent interviews conducted by the institution, [Holloway] provided false and misleading information as to how he obtained the shirt."
Holloway, who joined the Chants from Wabash Valley College in Illinois, led Coastal in scoring last season with 18.5 points per game before being suspended prior to the team's game Feb. 17. He would miss the Chants' final three regular season games, their three Big South tournament games and the team's National Invitation Tournament game. After the season Holloway announced he was leaving school to pursue a professional basketball career.
Coastal Carolina, meanwhile, had been left waiting for a final resolution on the matter.
“We thank the NCAA for its comprehensive investigation," CCU president David DeCenzo said in a statement. "We have full confidence in the process and are now looking ahead as we continue to work with the NCAA to ensure compliance in all areas of CCU athletics.”
More reaction to come later in the day.
| Ryan Young, ryoung@thesunnews.com
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