The NCAA found that Long Island University improperly certified hundreds of student-athletes across more than 30 sports from 2020-21 to 2023-24, resulting in over 1,000 ineligible participants including 240 initial certifications without completion and 176 receiving benefits improperly.

Penalties include three years of probation with staff required to participate in NCAA Regional Rules Seminars, vacating all team and individual records for the affected sports, a $30,000 fine plus 3% of the budgets for the four highest-budgeted programs, and a two-week recruiting ban for each sport during the first year of probation.

Context: This probation follows LIU’s 2019 merger of Brooklyn and Post athletic programs into one Division I entity and comes after the NCAA began investigating in the 2020-21 season and concluded in the 2023-24 season.

News 12 sought comment from LIU but had not received a response at the time of reporting.

No additional external information is included; the summary reflects the NCAA’s negotiated resolution and LIU’s penalties as described in the article.

The probation period does not bar postseason play or television appearances.

LIU self-reported the issues and stated that current compliance leadership, with decades of Division I experience, has strengthened oversight and that LIU remains committed to operating in full NCAA compliance.

LIU will still be eligible to compete for championships during the probation period, and the NCAA noted LIU’s prompt acceptance of responsibility and lack of prior major violations as mitigating factors.

The article attributes the issues to organizational fragmentation and ineffective coordination between coaches and compliance personnel post-merger, rather than isolated incidents.

Despite the violations, LIU teams had recent successes, including the softball team winning its NEC regular-season title, the men’s basketball team reaching the NCAA tournament, and the football team achieving its first-ever FBS win against Eastern Michigan.

The case was classified as Level I-Mitigated, with LIU deemed to have failed to monitor its eligibility certification process amid disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The penalties apply to a four-year window (roughly 2020-21 through 2023-24), but do not include postseason bans or television appearances; LIU asserts that ongoing successful seasons fall outside the reviewed period.