Report: Further details emerge surrounding NCAA punishments levied against Kentucky football, swimming

It’s been a week since the NCAA announced that the Kentucky football and swimming programs had been penalized with two years of probation for a handful of Level II violations committed. Now the full extent of the disciplinary enforcement is known.

Kentucky was punished after it self-reported violations for 11 football players being paid for work at the school’s hospital that was not actually performed.

One of the bigger punishments is the vacation of individual records of the ineligible players who played in 2021.

First and foremost, that means running back Chris Rodriguez‘s 1,379 rushing yards that year were wiped out. That total stood fifth in the school record books for a single season, but now it will not be recognized for Kentucky football. It also bumps his career total for yardage from third to 10th in school history.

Mark Stoops also loses some of his wins, dropping from 73-65 to 63-65. That leaves him still ahead of Paul Bear Bryant as the winningest coach in school history.

The Wildcats also must pay a self-imposed fine of $5,000, as well as 10% of its bowl payout from the SEC for its Citrus Bowl appearance associated with the 2021 season.

The swimming program, which exceeded practice time limits, had to self-impose a ban on practice time, reduce the 2023-24 season and add flex days. Those penalties will continue with the 2024-25 season.

More details on Kentucky football’s infractions

The alleged violations center around impermissible benefits for a number of football players and “violations involving countable athletically related activities that occurred within the swimming program.” Kentucky, according to the NCAA, agreed that the violations in the swimming program rose to the level of failure to monitor and head coach responsibility violations.

The violations for the Kentucky football program did not apparently climb up the ladder to the coaching staff.

“The agreed-upon violations involve at least 11 football student-athletes receiving payment for work not performed between spring 2021 and March 2022,” an NCAA announcement read. “Eight of the student-athletes went on to compete and receive actual and necessary expenses while ineligible. The enforcement staff and school agreed that no staff member in the athletics department knew or reasonably should have known about the payment for work not performed, and thus the violations involving the football program did not provide additional support for the agreed-upon failure-to-monitor violation.”