Utah athletic dirctor Chris Hill announced on Monday that baseball coach Bill Kinneberg will likely be suspended for an unspecified amount of games due to a self-reported NCAA violation that came to the departments attention due to a letter from the parent of a baseball player.
Hill said the university recommended the suspension, but he would not reveal the length of games recommended because the NCAA has not ruled on the matter. He also did not specify the nature of the violation uncovered. Hill said only that the violation was an “isolated incident” that did not related to academics, funding or recruiting.
The letter from the unnamed parent also made several allegations, including drug abuse by baseball players, a culture of partying and inappropriate conduct among players during road trips, coaches being drunk on road trips, that a student manager was asked to perform duties outside their scope including buying beer for Kinneberg, a former member of the coaching staff requesting prescription drugs from baseball players, players being injured due to incorrect use of equipment and not having full-time staff members transport or accompany athletes to receive medical care.
The university presented a report from Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC which found no evidence of: injuries due to incorrect use of failure of equipment, drug-abuse problems involving baseball players, or players engaging in inappropriate behavior during road trips.
The report said insufficient evidence was found to conclude that a former member of the coaching staff requested prescription drugs from players.
The report did find that on occasion an injured players had been transported by a student manager to the closest emergency room to receive medical care, and that on three occasions Kinneberg asked a student manager (who was 21) to purchase beer.
The report also said a member of the coaching staff admitted to being intoxicated on occasion during a road trip, but the report said there was no evidence that coaches were intoxicated in public or around players or threatened the well-being of players or prevented the coaches from performing their job duties.
This story will be updated.