UNC Bears Men's Basketball Team Hit With Major NCAA Violations

GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) - The University of Northern Colorado men's basketball team has been hit with serious penalties after nine of its staff members violated NCAA rules for academic fraud and recruiting.

The violations include completing coursework for prospective players, paying for classes they needed to become academically eligible and arranging off-campus practice sessions for student athletes who were not academically eligible to play.

The NCAA says UNC's former head coach B.J. Hill and several assistant coaches were directly involved. The university fired Hill in 2016 when the allegations first surfaced.

The team will have to pay a fine and spend three years on probation.

They are also banned from any postseason play for one year, and other schools are also restricted from hiring those UNC coaches for anywhere from three to seven years.