LSU’s football program must vacate 37 of its wins from 2012 to 2015 after committing Level I, Level II and Level III violations against the NCAA.
The NCAA’s Independent Resolution Panel made the ruling on Thursday. Former men’s basketball head coach Will Wade also received 10 game suspensions and a two-year show-cause order from the IRP for multiple NCAA violations during his time at LSU.
The university’s football program must forfeit two bowl wins from the 2012 to 2015 season. The program was already given a three-year probation sentence from the NCAA, which is set to end in September 2023.
LSU’s Level I violation occurred when an LSU athletics representative paid a prospective athlete’s father $180,150 over five years in an embezzlement scheme. The athlete attended and played at the university from 2012 to 2016.
Although the former representative has been disassociated for 10 years, the NCAA ruled that LSU must vacate its wins for this Level I violation.
The IRP did not enforce punishments for the program’s other two violations, as LSU already imposed its own punishments that the NCAA deemed acceptable.
LSU underwent a postseason ban during the 2020-21 season, a reduction in eight football scholarships from 2021 to 2022, a $5,000 fine including 0.5% of its average football budget and vacated any wins that ineligible athletes competed in from 2012 to 2016.
Former LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s viral cash handouts to LSU players at the 2020 National Championship resulted in a Level II violation. Beckham gave four players around $2,000, and a video of the act was shared all over social media.
LSU banned Beckham from all non-public areas of its facilities for two years after reporting the incident.
The Level III violation involves former head coach Ed Orgeron. Orgeron had impermissible contact with a prospective athlete during a 2019 evaluation period.
The loss of LSU’s previous wins affects former football head coach Les Miles, who held a 114-34 record during his time at LSU. His record drops to 77-34 after the NCAA ruling, and Miles is no longer eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame.