Dayton In Trouble With NCAA

April 18, 2000 / 8:51 PM EDT / AP

The NCAA penalized Dayton's basketball program Tuesday, limiting scholarships and recruiting visits because of violations including loans a university trustee made to the father of a recruit.

The recruit, 6-foot-6 freshman Brooks Hall, helped lead the Flyers to the NCAA tournament this season.

The NCAA put Dayton on three years' probation, limiting to 12 the scholarships it can offer for the 2001-02 academic year and to four the number of expenses-paid recruiting visits in 2000-01.

Penalties could have included a ban on televised appearances and postseason play.

Coach Oliver Purnell said he didn't think the sanctions will affect the competitiveness of the team, which was 22-9 and lost to Purdue 62-61 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

"It's not a happy day for the university, but we are glad that this chapter is behind us and now we can move forward while learning from this situation," he said.

The NCAA said university trustee Clayton Mathile in August and September 1998 made personal loans totaling $32,000 to Chuck Hall, Brooks Hall's father.

At the time, Brooks Hall had verbally committed to play at Dayton but hadn't signed a national letter of intent. He said he was unaware that his father had financial dealings with Mathile.

Mathile said he loaned money to help Chuck Hall take care of some bills so he could qualify for a mortgage. Mathile said he didn't realize the loans might be improper, but began having doubts and reported the loans to the university, which investigated.

Mathile said Chuck Hall was advised to repay the loan and did.

The NCAA also concluded that Mathile made impermissible contacts with recruits during unofficial visits to the school in 1997-98.

Hall, a 6-foot-6 guard-forward, averaged 10.4 points and 5.8 rebounds a game.

The NCAA's decision on a penalty came 18 months after Dayton told the NCAA of Mathile's loans and six months after the NCAA Committee on Infractions first reviewed the case.