Category | Sports

Asst. women’s basketball coach under NCAA investigation

Published on September 30, 2008 by The Sentinel

    KSU’s newly hired assistant women’s basketball coach, Chris
Carroll, was recently discovered to have resigned as the assistant
coach of the women’s team at the University of Richmond amid
allegations that Carroll had violated NCAA recruiting regulations.

    According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Carroll and Carlin Hartman, the assistant men’s basketball coach for the University of Richmond, both resigned after allegations surfaced that they violated text messaging and phone call rules set by the NCAA.

    KSU’s Athletic Director Dr. Dave Waples would not talk about the allegations due to privacy concerns but said, “I cannot comment on this situation, obviously there are some news stories out there. I can assure everyone, though, that this will not in any way, form or manner adversely affect KSU’s move into Division I, nor will it affect the day to day operations of the athletic department.”

    An investigation began at Richmond in November 2007 after the Assistance Director of Athletics for Compliance discovered the violations while reviewing telephone logs and records.

    Immediately, the Richmond athletic department reported the findings to the university president, the university faculty athletics representative and the NCAA. A department-wide audit of cellular phone records for additional evidence of text messaging was conducted by NCAA representatives and the Richmond athletic department. 

    “At present, the situation involves several coaches at Richmond, the UR and the NCAA. KSU is not involved in this whatsoever,” added Waples.

    The Collegian, the UR student newspaper, reports that over 300 text messages were sent by various members of Richmond’s coaching staff to student athletes – about 80 percent of those are said to be from Carroll. Text messaging was banned on Aug. 1, 2007, by the NCAA between college coaches and recruits.

    Once the allegations regarding Carroll had surfaced at KSU, he was placed under similar sanctions that he had at Richmond including reduced off-campus visits and phone-calls to prospective student-athletes, said The Collegian.

The KSU women’s basketball program was in need of a replacement after the departure of the team’s former assistant coach. Once the interviewing process was complete, Carroll was hired in the summer.

    Carroll, University of Georgia alum, has worked with many of the top women’s basketball programs in the U.S. He was an assistant coach and recruiter for Wyoming and Southern Miss along with taking up his first head coaching position at Truett-McConnell.

    Carroll applied for the open position at KSU to be closer to his family in Mississippi. KSU’s women’s basketball head coach Colby Tilley had also coached Carroll’s wife at Auburn University, so Carroll and Tlley were friends, The Collegian said.

    Neither Carroll nor Tilley could be reached for a comment.