LSU football has self-imposed penalties for NCAA rule violations, Sports Illustrated reported on Tuesday, stripping itself of eight scholarships over two years and reducing recruiting visits and communication. 
A two-year investigation concluded that a booster made illegal payments to the father of a football player. The University is also banning Odell Beckham Jr. from the program for two years for handing out cash to players on the field of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome immediately following the 2019 National Championship, SI reported. 
“LSU has worked proactively and in cooperation with the NCAA to identify and self-report any violations that occurred within our football program,” Robert Munson, LSU senior associate athletic director, told SI in a statement. “We believe these self-imposed penalties are appropriate, and we will continue to coordinate and cooperate with the NCAA on this matter.”
The school is hoping the NCAA will deem these penalties sufficient and decide not to levy more. 
Schools can typically award 85 scholarships, for a maximum of 25 each year. Unofficial and official visits will be cut 12.5%, and the 168-day window for off-campus contacts will be trimmed by 21 days, SI reported. The school will also impose a six-week ban on all communication with prospects. 
The father of Vadal Alexander, a four-year starter on the LSU offensive line from 2012-2015, received $180,000 from John Paul Fumes, who admitted in 2019 to embezzling over half a million dollars from Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge.  
Both Les Miles and Joe Alleva, head coach and athletic director at the time, are no longer with the program. 
When video circulated of Beckham Jr. handing out cash to football players, LSU officials initially told reporters that the money was fake, and later walked back that claim after Joe Burrow told Barstool Sports that the money was real. LSU said Beckham Jr. handed out a total of $2,000. 
The recruiting restrictions were imposed after the school also found that Ed Orgeron committed a recruiting violation in 2019, SI reported. 
In September, the NCAA referred a different case involving LSU Men’s Basketball Head Coach Will Wade’s alleged recruiting payments to their Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP). SI reported that LSU and the NCAA disagree on how to handle each investigation. 
LSU wants each case to be adjudicated separately. Since the Beckham incident and a similar double case at Kansas University, SI said, the NCAA wants to conduct a joint investigation of each program. 
Grouping the cases together could result in two Level I violations and a “lack of institutional control” sanction against LSU, which could bring stiffer penalties. 
The NCAA defines “lack of institutional control” as a failure to display “adequate compliance measures, appropriate education on those compliance measures, sufficient monitoring to ensure the compliance measures are followed and swift action upon learning of a violation.”
“The football inquiry is finished and prepared for resolution,” Sports Illustrtated reported that LSU wrote to the NCAA. “The football inquiry should not sit idle and stall while the basketball inquiry proceeds over the next six to 12 months. Referral of the football inquiry to the IARP based on the alleged actions of the men’s basketball coach is not logical.”
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.