Binghamton University basketball scandal

rdf:langString Binghamton University basketball scandal

rdf:langString The Binghamton University basketball scandal refers to a series of incidents that occurred as Binghamton University compromised its integrity in order to make the Bearcats men's basketball program more competitive in Division I. Numerous Binghamton players were arrested and dismissed from the team in the fall of 2009, continuing a troubling trend of misconduct from basketball players at the university. The arrests led to an investigation by the State University of New York (SUNY), Binghamton's parent institution, which found that Binghamton's administration had significantly lowered its admissions standards for prospective recruits under pressure from men's head coach Kevin Broadus and his staff. It also detailed several potential NCAA violations by Broadus and his staff. Numerous Binghamton professors admitted to academic fraud, having changed grades for basketball players upon pressure from members of the athletic department. The scandal resulted in Broadus' suspension in October 2009 and eventual resignation a year later. It also resulted in the resignation of the school's athletic director Joel Thirer, the firing of two assistant coaches, and the dismissal of six players from the team. Due to the fallout from the scandal, Binghamton elected to sit out postseason play in 2010. The SUNY investigation was forwarded to the NCAA, who discovered that Binghamton had committed two secondary violations but no major violations. Binghamton University's president, Lois B. DeFleur, announced her plans to retire when it became public that the report of the findings from an investigation would implicate her as being responsible for the impropriety. Following the scandal, Binghamton's men's basketball program was left in ruin. The team has yet to record a winning overall or conference record since, bottoming out during the 2011–12 season when the Bearcats finished 2–29, losing their first 26 games, for the worst record in program history.