Connor Stalions was given an eight-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA on Friday, along with the punishments handed down to the Michigan football program.
The NCAA claims that Stalions ran a vast network to conduct “impermissible advanced scouting,” which is a violation of a minor NCAA by-law.
However, in a statement released by Stalions’ legal team, the contention is that the NCAA doesn’t even understand the rule it is saying that Stalions broke.
“Indeed, as for the rule itself, we hope you get a chance to read the transcript of the hearing on this matter, because it shows just how out of step the NCAA is with any concept of justice known in this country. You will see that the committee itself could not and did not understand the rule they were trying to enforce. But the found Connor to have violated it dozens of times nonetheless. Such a result would not stand in any court in America.”
The statement from Stalions’ legal team also called the investigation “rigged.”
“This was a rigged investigation; enveloped in impropriety (namely, a “confidential source” that the NCAA still won’t reveal); and all premised on an antiquated rule that the member institutions themselves have tried to eliminate.”
The NCAA also relied on the statements of witnesses (student-athlete 1) who was proven to have lied about Chris Partridge. Yet, his testimony is relied upon heavily in the NCAA’s report.
Stalions’ legal team also wrote that the NCAA’s “feelngs were hurt” by Stalions participating in the Netflix documentary Sign Stealer.
The Michigan football program has decided to appeal its punishment. We’ll see where that leads, but even though the punishments have come out, we haven’t heard the last from Connor Stalions, or others on the Michigan side of things, in what truly was an NCAA witch hunt.
