Texas A&M’s men’s basketball program has been placed on two years probation, and coach Buzz Williams will serve a two-game suspension this season, for multiple Level II violations, the NCAA announced Friday.
A source told CBS Sports Williams will miss the Aggies’ first two games.
The case was processed through the negotiated resolution process because the involved coaches and enforcement staff agreed on the violations and penalties. In addition to probation and Williams’ suspension, Texas A&M will pay a $5,000 fine, lose five official visits during the 2021-22 academic year, and lose seven recruiting days during the 2021-22 academic year.
The violations are all minor in nature — among them that an assistant coach conducted supervised, off-campus workouts with a prospect and several men’s basketball players that were not allowed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The same assistant coach observed a prospect participating in an open gym during an unofficial visit and conducted two 45-minute tryouts with that prospect. Texas A&M suspended the assistant coach in question from June 2020 through the end of the 2020-21 season.
Williams’ suspension is tied to him having impermissible contact with a prospect during an evaluation period. He also allowed some non-coaching staff members to participate in on-court activities and, according to the NCAA, did not “promote an atmosphere of compliance because of his personal involvement in the violations — and because he did not monitor his staff’s involvement in violations.”
Williams is entering his third season at Texas A&M.
He was the 2020 SEC Coach of the Year.