News broke on Wednesday afternoon that the NCAA had negotiated a deal with Michigan State following an investigation into some self-reported recruiting violations under Mel Tucker.
If Michigan State was ever in question for firing Tucker with cause before, that’s officially no longer a debate as the former head coach was one of three people named in the NCAA’s punishment.
According to the deal the NCAA worked out with Michigan State, the school will have a reduction in unofficial and official visits over the next two years as well as reductions in time to recruit. They will also be vacating all wins from 2022-2024, meaning that we no longer have to ackowledge that these seasons ever happened.
OK, I’m only half-kidding, but this doesn’t mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but when you compare this punishment to what Michigan and Central Michigan received from the NCAA, it’s far harsher. Neither of those programs had to vacate any wins, and the NCAA’s reasoning for that was that it didn’t want to punish the current coaches and student-athletes for what previous coaches did.
Apparently, that same logic does not apply to Michigan State’s punishment.
The Spartans officially have a harsher punishment than both in-state programs that partook in more impactful violations than Michigan State.
Michigan was part of one of the biggest sign-stealing operations that has ever been reported, and the former coaches and players still deny that they were involved to this day. Heck, Sherrone Moore was on the staff and in contact with Connor Stalions when all of this happened, but all he got was a small suspension and a show-cause.
Central Michigan invited Stalions to their sidelines to illegally scout and help the staff during the 2023 season opener against Michigan State. The Chips’ former coaches also received show-cause penalties from the NCAA and some recruiting reductions.
Michigan State gets vacated wins for three seasons as well as a fine and recruiting reductions for multiple cycles. And the Spartans clearly didn’t benefit from any recruiting violations (look at the record for those three seasons).
Not that vacating these wins or the three-year probation truly matters, but Michigan State student-athletes shouldn’t be punished for the previous coaching staff’s violations.