2011 University of Miami athletics scandal In 2011 , the University of Miami Hurricanes football and men ' s basketball programs were investigated for NCAA rules violations alleged to have taken place from 2002 to 2010 , centering around improper benefits given by booster Nevin Shapiro , and reported by investigative reporters at Yahoo ! Sports . Past scandals . The Miami Hurricanes , particularly the football team , have experienced a number of past scandals . In 1994 , " The Miami Herald " reported that 2 Live Crew member Luther Campbell and several NFL players had offered a " pay - for - play " system from 1986 through 1992 , giving cash rewards for acts such as scoring touchdowns and big hits . This allegation was verified in the subsequent NCAA investigation , which also found that the " head football coach and the associate director of athletics for compliance and internal operations were aware " of the payments . Also in 1994 , former University of Miami academic advisor Tony Russell pled guilty to helping 57 football players and more than 23 other scholarship athletes in falsifying applications for Pell Grants . From 1989 to 1992 , Russell helped players receive more than $ 220 , 000 of grants , which federal officials later called " perhaps the largest centralized fraud . . . ever committed " against the Pell Grant program . As a result of the scandal , Alexander Wolff wrote a " Sports Illustrated " cover story suggesting Miami should temporarily shutter the football program and that athletic director Paul Dee should be fired . In 1995 , the NCAA announced that the University of Miami had also provided or allowed " more than $ 412 , 000 of excessive aid " to student - athletes between 1990 and 1994 , failed to implement its drug testing program , and lost institutional control over the football program . That December the NCAA announced that Miami ' s multiple infractions would result in severe sanctions , including a one - year ban from postseason play and a 31 - scholarship reduction from 1996 to 1999 . In addition to the football team , the violations also involved Miami ' s baseball , men ' s tennis , and women ' s golf teams . Nevin Shapiro . Born in Brooklyn in 1969 , Shapiro ' s family moved to south Florida when he was young , and he graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School . Some time between 1999 and 2003 , under the cover of a grocery business called Capitol Investments USA , Shapiro operated a $ 930 million Ponzi scheme , which eventually collapsed in November 2009 . In April 21 , 2010 he was charged in New Jersey with securities fraud and money laundering , and he pled guilty to one count of each on September 15 , 2010 . On June 7 , 2011 , he was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and ordered to make $ 82 , 657 , 362 . 29 in restitution . In 2002 he paid $ 1 . 5 million for 30 percent in a sports management company called Axcess Sports , which had been started by Michael Huyghue . The agency signed several Hurricanes including Vince Wilfork . Shapiro was a major booster of the Miami Hurricanes athletic programs , and reportedly spent $ 2 million from 2002 to 2010 in support primarily of the football team , and also of the men ' s basketball team . In August 2010 Shapiro told " The Miami Herald " that he was writing a book " The Real U : 2001 to 2010 . Inside the Eye of the Hurricane " in which he promised to tell how Miami had violated NCAA rules affecting more than 100 players . " Once the players turned pro , they turned their back on me . It made me feel like a used friend , " he said . On August 16 , 2011 , Yahoo ! Sports writer Charles Robinson published an article based on 100 hours of jailhouse interviews with Shapiro , detailing Shapiro ' s allegations regarding his illegal and unethical behaviors and the lack of oversight in the University of Miami athletics department . Allegations . Miami booster Nevin Shapiro , convicted of securities fraud and money laundering from a Ponzi scheme in 2010 and currently serving a 20 - year prison sentence , allegedly used investor funds to finance donations to the University of Miami ' s athletic program , and claims that he gave an estimated $ 2 million in prohibited benefits to at least 72 current or former football / basketball players and coaches from 2002 to 2010 . The Yahoo ! Sports report alleges that Shapiro , through his donations , violated at least four major NCAA bylaws : Shapiro saw his involvement as a direct continuation of Luther Campbell ' s activities . In an interview with Yahoo ! Sports , he explained : Here ’ s the thing : Luther Campbell was the first uncle who took care of players before I got going . His role was diminished by the NCAA and the school , and someone needed to pick up that mantle . That someone was me . He was ‘ Uncle Luke , ’ and I became ‘ Little Luke . ’ NCAA sanctions on players . On August 25 , 2011 , media reports indicated that Miami had declared as many as 13 current football players ineligible , including projected starting quarterback Jacory Harris , as a result of the investigation . The school then petitioned the NCAA for reinstatement of at least some of the players involved . The following day , head coach Al Golden confirmed these reports , though not naming any players or indicating the number of reinstatements sought . Under NCAA rules , these players were still allowed to practice until the NCAA notified Miami about its decisions . Depending on the scale of each player ' s violations , penalties may include sanctions that do not require missing games , suspension for a fixed number of games , or permanent ineligibility . The school began the process in hopes that the NCAA would make its decisions on all players before the Hurricanes ' season opener at Maryland on September 5 . On August 30 , the NCAA announced the results of Miami ' s petition . It cleared one of the named players , Marcus Robinson , but found that the other 12 had received impermissible benefits . All of these players were required to make restitution before being reinstated . Four who were found to have received less than $ 100 were not suspended , and would be eligible to play once certified as having made restitution . In total , Hurricanes players repaid about $ 4 , 000 in restitution , with the greatest single amount being $ 1 , 200 . The three who drew the longest suspensions accepted gifts from Shapiro during their recruitment , and had received the greatest amount of improper benefits among the group . Reaction . Due to the nature of the allegations and the prominence of the Miami Hurricanes football team , as well as the history of scandals surrounding the program , reactions to the expose were rapid . Paul Dee , whose term as University of Miami athletic director from 1993 through 2008 encompassed both the current scandal and the violations uncovered in 1995 , came in for heavy criticism . " Sports Illustrated " s Stewart Mandel summed up Dee ' s involvement as follows : Dee , you may recall , was the Committee on Infractions chairman for USC ' s much - publicized case last summer involving former stars Reggie Bush and O . J . Mayo . It was Dee who , in announcing some of the stiffest penalties of the last 20 years ( a two - year bowl ban and 30 docked scholarships ) , closed with the preachy reminder that " high - profile athletes demand high - profile compliance " . Dee , Miami ' s AD during most of the period covering Shapiro ' s allegations , is retired and no longer under NCAA jurisdiction . Still , it seems only fair he should spend a day at USC ' s Heritage Hall wearing a sandwich board with the word " Hypocrite . " According to NCAA President Mark Emmert , the NCAA began investigating the situation " four or five months " prior to the publication of Robinson ' s article , and NCAA investigators had conducted multiple interviews with Shapiro . Many sportswriters , including Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel of Yahoo ! Sports , have speculated that if the allegations are found to be true , the Hurricanes may face the " NCAA death penalty " , which was last given to a major program in 1987 when the SMU Mustangs had their football season cancelled . According to the NCAA , " A school is a repeat violator if a second major violation occurs within five years of the start date of the penalty from the first case . The cases do not have to be in the same sport . " According to several sources at Miami , the NCAA has begun investigating for a " pattern of willful violations , " which would allow it to investigate back to the date the earliest infractions occurred . The violations would overlap with the Hurricanes baseball team ' s two - year probation from 2003 to 2005 , which would make the football and basketball teams eligible for the " death penalty . " However , NCAA Vice President for Enforcement Julie Roe Lach has said discussion about using the death penalty has been limited . Wolff , who had suggested in 1995 that the Miami football program should be shuttered , again called for Miami to temporarily drop football in an open letter to university president Donna Shalala published in the August 29 , 2011 issue of " Sports Illustrated " . In the letter , Wolff noted that Dan Wetzel had described the Miami program as a " de facto professional team " run by Shapiro , but that no NFL owner , in contrast to Shapiro , would have " stocked hotel rooms and his own yacht with prostitutes and strippers for players ' pleasure and sprung for an abortion when one of the women got pregnant . " Wolff also had praise for Randy Shannon , who had been fired as Miami head coach after the 2010 season , noting that he " seems to have been the only person in Coral Gables who wanted nothing to do with Shapiro , reportedly warning his players to avoid him and threatening to fire assistants caught dealing with him . " On November 20 , Miami announced that it was withdrawing from bowl consideration for the 2011 season due to the ongoing NCAA probe . With the NCAA yet to announce its results as the end of the 2012 season approached , Miami again chose to withdraw from postseason play , including the possibility of a slot in the ACC Championship Game . UM Statement on NCAA Notice of Allegations . UM received the Notice of Allegations from the NCAA on February 19 , 2013 . To read the UM response and to learn more about the process , visit the UM website dedicated to the investigation .