By Michael A. Ross, MS
Former SUNY Brockport wrestling Coach Don Murray is suing the NCAA for what he claims to have been a shoddy investigation led by the Division III college ultimately ending his 50-year long career during which five national titles were won and producing dozens of All-Americans.
Murray abruptly retired last year as a result of SUNY Brockport temporarily suspending the wrestling program after determining that COVID policy violations had occurred. His retirement and the team suspension would occur a few months prior to the NCAA banning Murray from coaching for three years while also placing the SUNY Brockport wrestling program on probation for violating rules surrounding team practices.
In January 2022, the Division III Committee on Infractions decided that NCAA violations had occurred when Murray used physical education courses that he was in charge of to allow student-athletes to engage in wrestling practices prior to the first permissible practice date. In a joint agreement between the NCAA enforcement staff and the university the decision stemmed from findings indicating that over the course of a four-year period, Murray had taught two physical education wrestling courses in which 89% of the enrolled students were determined to be members of the men’s wrestling program. It was found that Murray would encourage incoming freshmen to enroll in both the introductory and intermediate wrestling courses with the intent to acclimate the incoming student-athletes into the program prior to the start of the defined wrestling season. Additionally, it is noted that Murray did not allow non-student-athletes enrolled in either of the aforementioned courses to participate in wrestling drills.
The university and enforcement staff also concluded that in September of 2020, the coach had arranged for an off-campus gym to provide access to the members of the men’s wrestling team for training purposes. This action occurred during the off-season and after the university had implemented contact restrictions on campus because of the Covid pandemic that was in full force at that time. After arranging access for the team, the coach was found to have briefly attended the training and listed as the individual who had initiated contact between said gym and the team.
The classes and offsite training were found to be in violation of NCAA rules based on the fact that they had occurred outside of the NCAA established playing season and more specifically, before the first permissible practice date was allowed. As a result of these two rule violations, 49 student-athletes were found to have participated in impermissible athletic related activities over the duration of the four-year time span. Additionally, because the violations occurred prior to the NCAA approved permissible practice date or season, many of the student-athletes found to have engaged in said activities had not undergone a required medical examination or evaluation which is also a violation of NCAA rules.
Because of the head coach’s direct involvement with the violations, the Committee on Infractions stated within their decision that Murray had committed head coach responsibility violations because he had failed to do his due diligence and promote an atmosphere for compliance. Instead of conducting a formal hearing to reach a final decision, this case utilized the cooperative summary process which requires all involved parties to collectively submit the case to the committee in written form. Furthermore, the process mandates that all participating parties must agree to the facts of the case for this process to be valid and used in place of a formal hearing. It should be noted that Murray resigned from his coaching position and did not participate in the processing of the case. The following penalties and corrective measures were issued by the committee:
- Three years of probation.
- A $2,500 fine (self-imposed by the university).
- A three-year show-cause order for the former men’s wrestling head coach. During that period, any NCAA member school employing him must restrict him from any athletically related duties unless it shows cause why the restrictions should not apply.
- The university delayed the start of wrestling team practice from October 10 to October 18, 2021 (self-imposed by the university).
- The university will not host any intercollegiate wrestling competitions in the fall semester from 2021 through 2023 (self-imposed by the university).
- The university will prohibit all external wrestling activity on campus except for New York Public High School Athletic Association-sanctioned events (self-imposed by the university). The committee extended this probation through the duration of the probationary period.
- The university will not bid on or host NCAA regional or national wrestling events for a five-year period through 2026 (self-imposed by the university).
In the 40-page lawsuit filed by Murray in response to the aforementioned decision and accompanied actions against the NCAA, Murray states that the outcome resulted in the manner that it did because of a disgruntled and less than favorable relationship between himself and the Athletic Director, Eric Hart, who he claims had soured on him and the program. Also, within the suit there are claims that Athletic Director Hart and Vice President Kathryn Wilson wanted Murray removed as head coach and to ultimately dissolve the wrestling program in its entirety. The alleged scheme documented within the suit enlisted the NCAA in what Murray states and describes as a flawed investigation that ultimately led to and supported the university-suggested sanctions. Murray maintains he did nothing wrong and currently still resides on the SUNY Brockport staff as an associate professor. The goal of his suit is to have his coaching suspension lifted and to receive monetary damages.
At the time of this article, the NCAA has not responded to requests for comment on the matter, and a university spokesman declined to discuss the matter, only stating that SUNY Brockport is not named as a defendant in the issue.
References
Sharp, B. (2022). Former SUNY Brockport wrestling coach Don Murray sues NCAA seeking to lift 3-year suspension. WXXI News. Retrieved from https://www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2022-12-21/former-suny-brockport-wrestling-coach-don-murray-sues-ncaa-seeking-to-lift-3-year-suspension.
Michael A. Ross, Senior Writer for JONC, is the Department Chair and an Assistant Professor of Sport Management at Shorter University and a PhD student at Troy University specializing in research related to youth sport studies, leadership, sport law, social media policies and procedures within athletics, and participation motivations in sport and recreation.
