Missouri Basketball Coach Frank Haith Likely to Face Inquiry from NCAA

The NCAA investigation into convicted criminal and former University of Miami booster Nevin Shapiro continues to get more and more interesting as it continues.  Just this week the NCAA had its credibility in the investigation blown up, yet they are going to likely be bringing in former Miami head basketball coach Frank Haith for questioning.

The NCAA is still trying to find out how involved Haith was with Shapiro during his time as head coach, and what was the extent of Shapiro’s influence on the program.

Haith is currently serving as the head basketball coach at Missouri, but his infractions will follow him if he is deemed guilty by the NCAA. He is facing allegations of “unethical conduct and failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance”, according to the NCAA. Haith is facing these unethical conduct charges because it is believed that payments to his assistants, which Haith said were for basketball camps, ended up going to Shapiro.

The “failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance” charge stems from airline travel his staff gave to two players’ families, as well as allowing contact between Shapiro and players during recruiting trips.  Both charges are very serious infractions and could lead to a large suspension for the coach and a postseason ban for any team he is coaching.

Miami took steps last year to try to avoid the wrath of the NCAA and suspended Reggie Johnson for one game and Durand Scott was suspended for the end of last season and the start of this season. Miami has also self-imposed disciplinary action on its football program for having involvement with Shapiro.

It’s unclear how Missouri will dealing with possible sanctions imposed on their coach.  Should they cut bait before they get pulled to deep into the problem?  These days loyalty has become a thing of the past.  Universities bail on conferences every other day, coaches leave schools for a couple more dollars down the street and players come and go as quickly as they can.

Is Haith guilty?  It may be too big of a risk for the Tigers program to wait and find out.