CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The University of Miami women’s basketball program has been placed on probation for one year after the school and the NCAA said coaches inadvertently helped arrange impermissible contact between a booster and two players who signed with the Hurricanes.
Friday’s revelation of the punishment via an NCAA release marked the first time the association has announced a penalty related to an investigation into name, image and likeness deals.
The NCAA probed the actions of booster John Ruiz, who has signed several Hurricanes athletes to NIL deals. Among them are basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder, who transferred to Miami after meeting with Ruiz — though the sisters told the NCAA the meeting had nothing to do with their decision to play for the Hurricanes.
According to the release, the NCAA and Miami worked through a “negotiated resolution” to end the saga, but the Division I Committee on Infractions panel wanted the Hurricanes to agree to more sanctions than what were ultimately handed down, saying it was “troubled” by “the absence of a disassociation of the involved booster.” The NCAA said the violation stemmed from Miami coach Katie Meier having helped facilitate a meeting between the Cavinders and Ruiz, unaware that he was a booster.
“Boosters are involved with prospects and student-athletes in ways the NCAA membership has never seen or encountered,” the panel said in the release. “In that way, addressing impermissible booster conduct is critical, and the disassociation penalty presents an effective penalty available to the (committee on infractions).”