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Things have gone from bad to worse for Idaho coach Don Verlin.
After a dismal 5-27 campaign last season, Verlin was placed on paid leave May 23, just 24 hours after the school received a report of three potential NCAA violations.
Peter Harriman of The Spokesman-Review was the first to report the news Tuesday evening.
The details of each violation haven’t been disclosed, but none of them involve impressible payments to players. One minor violation involved basketball operations staffer and former player Stephen Madison practicing with the team.
Verlin’s leave is for 10 business days, though Idaho athletics department spokesman Mike Walsh told Harriman that “all options are on the table.”
Ironically, Verlin isn’t the first member of his family to feel the wrath of the NCAA. His twin brother, Ron, was fired by Pacific and handed an eight-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA in September 2017.
According to the NCAA, Ron Verlin was found to have “failed to monitor the activities of his coaching staff and violated NCAA ethical conduct rules when he encouraged others to provide false information during the investigation.” He was also accused of recruiting academically ineligible players and bending the rules to make sure they became eligible.
The Vandals finished in last place in the Big Sky with a 2-18 conference record last year. The program then hemorrhaged five players to the transfer portal, including standout guard Cameron Tyson, who is heading to Houston after averaging 13.5 points per game as a freshman.
.@VandalHoops' Geno West, Cassius Smits-Francisco and Losini Kamara join Cameron Tyson in the transfer portal, confirmed by #Idaho. The four combined for 53 starts last season. @SkylineSportsMT reports that Xavier Smith is also in the portal.
— Stephan Wiebe (@StephanSports) April 17, 2019
Pair the poor season and roster turnover with NCAA violations, and it appears Verlin is on thin ice. His chances aren’t helped by the fact that Idaho is currently searching for an athletic director and incoming university president Scott Green will take office July 1.
Firing Verlin would mean a clean slate on all fronts. But if he survives this mess, he wouldn’t be the first college basketball coach to do so this spring (looking at you, Will Wade).