The NCAA mandated Friday that Seton Hall’s men’s basketball team lose one scholarship during the 2020-21 academic year and pay a $5,000 fine in the wake of the transfer tampering case involving junior forward Taurean Thompson.
The loss of scholarship brings Seton Hall to 12 instead of 13 scholarships for next season.
Seton Hall also got a two-week ban on recruiting communication during each of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, while Saint Peter’s head coach Shaheen Holloway is “prohibited from all recruiting communication for six weeks during the 2019-20 academic year.”
Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard has already served a two-game suspension as a result of a negotiated settlement with the NCAA. That suspension covered a preseason game against Misericordia and the season-opener against Wagner. Holloway, the Saint Peter’s head coach and former Seton Hall associate head coach who tampered in bringing Thompson to Seton Hall from Syracuse, is currently serving a four-game suspension that goes through Nov. 24.
“Seton Hall University, in conjunction with the NCAA, recently concluded a review of an infraction within our men’s basketball program,” the school said in a statement. “Our department was proactive in our review and fully cooperated with the NCAA enforcement staff. While the violation was inadvertent, it was nonetheless against NCAA bylaws, and for that we take full responsibility. Seton Hall is and always will be committed to a culture of compliance, and we will continue to work diligently to ensure it.”
Saint Peter’s statement reads: "Coach Holloway fully cooperated with the NCAA enforcement staff and while the violation was inadvertent, it was nonetheless contrary to NCAA bylaws. Saint Peter’s University and Coach Holloway are committed to a culture of integrity and rules compliance and will continue to work diligently to ensure it.
Though both statements called the transgression “inadvertent,” the NCAA said Holloway had more than 150 phone conversations with Thompson’s mother while her son was still enrolled at Syracuse.
“The university, the former associate head coach and NCAA enforcement staff agreed that while the men’s basketball prospect was enrolled at a different university, the former associate head coach and the prospect’s mother had 154 phone calls without written permission from the prospect’s athletics director at the time,” the statement reads.
“After the prospect informed his original university of his intent to transfer and requested permission to contact Seton Hall, the university denied the request. The former associate head coach learned the request was denied, but still had 87 impermissible calls with the prospect’s mother.
“According to the agreement, the former associate head coach said he did not report the calls with the prospect’s mother because they involved a personal relationship outside of the prospect and basketball, and he believed the communications were permissible.”
Thompson left Syracuse in August of 2017 and was officially introduced at Seton Hall that September. He’s currently averaging 4.6 points and 2.3 rebounds. He did not play in No. 12 Seton Hall’s 76-73 loss to No. 3 Michigan State Thursday night.
Seton Hall visits Saint Louis on Sunday.
Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media.