College of Staten Island Receives Notice of Allegations
Division III College of Staten Island has received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA involving their swimming and diving program:
CSI dismissed long-time swimming coach and director of aquatics Oleg Soloviev in November 2011. Soloviev told the Advance at that time he had been the focus of an NCAA investigation that he said resulted in the suspensions — and eventual reinstatement — of three Russian-born student-athletes.
Division III plus international student-athletes almost certainly means a financial aid/extra benefits violation. Given that the coach was dismissed, it is unlikely to be the standard Division III financial aid violation where a particular scholarship program is not meeting proportionality; i.e. the percentage of aid given to student-athletes is much greater than the percentage of students that are athletes. More likely is that impermissible financial aid or extra benefits like travel, lodging, or phone calls home were provided to the athletes.
Staten Island will prepare its response and meet with the Division III Committee on Infractions in August 2013. The lower divisions typically have a quicker turnaround with infractions reports, so expect a public report in maybe September or October.
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