BATON ROUGE - The NCAA's disciplinary committee handed down punishment to the LSU Football program Thursday, including a one-year probation period and several recruiting restrictions, for violating recruiting rules.

The announcement was not related to the widely covered controversy involving LSU Basketball and former hoops coach Will Wade. The infractions instead revolved around a former assistant coach, James Cregg, and a former assistant director who violated dead period rules in September 2020.

Neither was named outright by the NCAA. Cregg was identified because of a legal battle with LSU Athletics over his firing last year.

Allegations from the NCAA include reports Cregg had a prospect — and their family — visit him at his home and then gave the potential recruit a bag of used LSU gear. The following weekend, that same recruit was later picked up from a hotel with his girlfriend by a former assistant director and given a tour of Tiger Stadium. That same assistant later gave the prospect several pieces of LSU gear.

LSU football found by NCAA to have a Level II violation for former OL Coach James Cregg

Penalties include:

One year of probation
Limit of official visits to 55 for 2022-23 (self-imposed)
Various recruiting restrictions , visits, evals, etc.
3 year show-cause for Cregg

— Michael Cauble (@Cauble) September 22, 2022

Read the full announcement from the NCAA here

Read the full statement from LSU Athletics below.

“Today’s decision of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions involving a former LSU assistant football coach concludes a 21-month cooperative process between the University and the NCAA. Throughout this process, the University has worked in concert with the enforcement staff to determine the truth and to self-impose sanctions. We are grateful to the Committee and the enforcement staff for their work and for accepting our self-imposed penalties, and we are pleased to be able to move forward as an institution and as a football program. LSU continues to work through the IARP process regarding other allegations of rule violations.”

But it's not the end of LSU's recruiting woes.

The LSU Athletics department was also informed earlier this year that the NCAA was investigating allegations involving the basketball team's recruiting practices and then-head coach Will Wade. Wade was fired shortly afterward, paving the way for LSU to hire Matt McMahon as its new coach.

Accusations that Wade was offering money to influence potential basketball recruits were featured in an HBO docuseries that aired in 2020, including a recorded phone call where Wade allegedly discussed making an offer to sign Javonte Smart, a highly coveted high school prospect. 

The NCAA has yet to announce any punishment for violations involving the basketball program.