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Although Long Island University proudly bears the nickname “Sharks,” it was the NCAA that took a substantial bite out of the institution this week.
The NCAA has placed LIU under a three-year probation period following an investigation that uncovered significant compliance issues within the university’s athletic programs. Over 1,000 student-athletes were found to be ineligible due to incomplete NCAA paperwork or improper certification, which hindered their ability to compete or practice legally.
The violations occurred from the 2020-21 to the 2023-24 academic years, highlighting LIU’s failure to adequately oversee its eligibility certification process, as detailed in the NCAA’s negotiated resolution released on Monday.
As a consequence, 35 of LIU’s athletic programs were found to be in breach of regulations. The NCAA has imposed a three-year probation and has decided to void team and individual records in sports where ineligible players participated during this timeframe.
The resolution specifically mentions several teams affected by these violations, including LIU’s baseball, football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s golf, men’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field, and women’s volleyball teams.
Additionally, LIU will face a “$30,000 fine, plus 3% of the budgets for the four highest-budgeted sports programs involved in violations” and a two-week ban on recruiting activities on each sport during the first year of the school’s probation.
A university spokesman confirmed to The Post that the penalties will not have any impact on the records or titles of the 2024-25 or 2025-26 seasons since there were no eligibility compliance issues at that point.
It’s notable considering the LIU men’s basketball team won the NEC Tournament title and made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2013 this past season, and the softball team just won its second consecutive NEC regular season title on Monday.
The football team also captured its first FBS win last fall when it upset Eastern Michigan.
The infractions occurred in part because of the merger of the athletic programs at LIU Brooklyn and LIU Post, resulting in one compliance staff member being responsible for overseeing the eligibility for student athletes involved in 35 programs.
“The athletics department was split between two locations, with half at the Brooklyn campus and half at the Post location, resulting in communications inefficiencies between coaches and compliance staff about team rosters,” the negotiated resolution stated.
“In total, initial eligibility certifications for 240 student-athletes were not completed before they practiced,” the report also said. “Of those, 176 competed impermissibly and/or received actual and necessary expenses while ineligible or not certified. An additional 658 student-athletes competed and 111 practiced without having required forms completed.”
The report does note that LIU self-reported the infraction to the NCAA, and a spokesman for the university said the school had “identified these eligibility certification matters through its compliance systems during a routine, university-wide review.”
“The issues date back several years and occurred during a period of operational disruption amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” the spokesman said. “The NCAA recognized the University’s collaborative approach throughout the review, and we worked closely with the NCAA while fully cooperating at every stage of the process.
“LIU maintains a strong, institution-wide culture of compliance. LIU’s current athletic compliance leadership and staff bring decades of Division I experience and are supported by comprehensive oversight systems. We are confident in our compliance structure and remain fully committed to operating with integrity and in full compliance with NCAA standards.”