Buzz Williams suspended two games for minor NCAA infractions

The NCAA announced on Friday that the Texas A&M men’s basketball has been found in violation of multiple NCAA rules, and as a result, head coach Buzz Williams will be suspended two game.

The violations are outlines below, and boy do they seem to amount to a whole bunch of nothing.

The university, a men’s basketball assistant coach, the men’s basketball head coach and NCAA enforcement staff agreed that the program violated multiple NCAA recruiting rules. Specifically, the head coach had impermissible contact with a prospect during an evaluation period. The assistant coach violated NCAA rules when he observed a prospect participating in an open gym during an unofficial visit and later conducted two 45-minute tryouts with that prospect, during which he provided coaching instruction.

The university, assistant coach and enforcement staff also agreed the assistant coach violated multiple NCAA rules when he impermissibly conducted approximately 24 supervised, off-campus workouts with a prospect and several men’s basketball student-athletes. The workouts were prohibited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On several occasions, the assistant coach arranged for noncoaching staff members to supervise and conduct the workouts, exceeding permissible limits for countable coaches.

Additionally, the university, head coach and enforcement staff agreed the head coach allowed six noncoaching staff members to participate in on-court activities and engage in skills instruction, exceeding NCAA countable coaches by three.

These types of minor violations sound eerily similar to the ones levied against Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher’s football program last summer, and the punishment also feels equally benign. While you never want to see your school’s name associated with NCAA violations, it’s also generally a good sign when the NCAA snoops around your programs and these minor issues are the only ones they can find.