ATLANTA – The NCAA has informed Georgia Tech it has found major recruiting violations committed by former assistant coach Darryl LaBarrie and a former friend of current men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner.
The school released the notice of allegations from the NCAA on Friday. Of the three allegations, the NCAA said two are considered a “severe breach of conduct,” considered the highest “Level 1” violations.
In a statement that accompanied the notice of allegations, most names were redacted. However, Pastner’s former friend, Ron Bell, identified by the NCAA as a “representative of the institution’s athletic interests,” was said to have provided more than $2,000 in impermissible benefits to players in 2016 and 2017.
The NCAA said LaBarrie gave $300 to a recruit for a visit to an Atlanta strip club and provided false or misleading statements to the NCAA about the visit. The NCAA also said LaBarrie attempted to influence a team member to provide false information about the visit.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported the details of the notice of allegations, which the school must respond to by May 16.
The NCAA alleges a recruit received about $664 in inducements and benefits, including the money at the strip club. The NCAA said it is a “Level 1” violation because it was “intended to provide a substantial or extensive recruiting advantage.”
The NCAA said LaBarrie’s false statements about the violations and attempt to influence a team member to provide false statements also rank as top-level violations because they “involved failure of the responsibility to cooperate and unethical or dishonest conduct.”
LaBarrie, who played for the Yellow Jackets and was a senior on the 2000-01 team that reached the NCAA tournament, did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment.
The NCAA classified the alleged violations involving Bell as “Level 2” and a “significant breach of conduct” because they were not isolated and were “intended to provide more than a minimal recruiting or other advantage.”
In a released statement that accompanied its disclosure of the allegations, Georgia Tech said it would not have further comment “because the NCAA process remains open.”
Some of the allegations were made public during the 2016-17 season, Pastner’s first season with the program. LaBarrie was placed on leave on Nov. 22, 2016, and he resigned on Feb. 7, 2017.
Josh Okogie and Tadric Jackson, who played for the Jackets at the time, were suspended for six and three games, respectively, early in the 2016-17 season for accepting benefits. The school determined the players received apparel, meals and transportation.
The allegations against Bell led to an exchange of lawsuits between Pastner and Bell and his girlfriend, Jennifer Pendley.
Pastner filed a defamation lawsuit against Bell and Pendley early in 2018, saying the Tuscon-area couple was trying to defame and blackmail him by accusing him of breaking NCAA rules. The countersuit from Bell and Pendley claimed Pastner sexually assaulted Pendley in February 2016 when he was coach at the University of Memphis.
Pastner denied the charge last year, saying there was “zero truth to any of those disgusting, bogus allegations. It’s disgusting.”
This week the Jackets completed a 14-18 season with a first-round loss to Notre Dame in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. In 2016-17, Pastner’s debut season, the Jackets won 21 games and reached the National Invitation Tournament’s title game before being routed by TCU. They went 13-19 in 2017-18.
Georgia Tech suspended women’s coach MaChelle Joseph on Feb. 27 for what the school said is a “pending personnel matter.” On Friday, Joseph’s attorney, Lisa Banks, said the allegations against the men’s program reflect a double standard.
Banks’ released statement said Joseph “remains suspended for reasons that have yet to be disclosed to her or to the Georgia Tech community. The hypocrisy is stunning. Georgia Tech’s actions with respect to coach Joseph are emblematic of the persistent double standard for men and women across collegiate athletics.”
Last month, Banks said Joseph is left to assume her suspension was retaliation for her concerns about gender equity.
After Joseph’s suspension, a Georgia Tech spokesman said the school doesn’t comment on pending personnel matters.