(WXYZ) — Michigan State University will face a slew of punishments, including vacating wins, as part of an agreement with the NCAA over recruiting violations.
The Division 1 Committee on Infractions released the resolution and report Wednesday for recruiting violations.
According to the university, the team will vacate wins from 2022, 2023 and 2024, totaling 14 wins. Tucker was 5-7 in 2022, and the Spartans went 4-8 in 2023 and 5-7 in 2024.
"Recruiting violations occurred at Michigan State when members of the football staff, including former football general manager/executive director of player personnel and recruiting Saeed Khalif and former assistant football coach Brandon Jordan, knowingly provided impermissible recruiting inducements in connection with prospective studentathletes’ unofficial visits," the report says.
According to the report, from Oct. 2021 through March 2023, Khalif, Jordan and other members of the football staff offered or/or provided more than $10,000 in impermissible recruiting inducements to six prospects who came to MSU for unofficial visits.
Khalif also reportedly offered to pay for a prospect's family vacation so the prospect would not go on official visits to other schools and paid a prospect's trainer $700 to attend a visit.
In January 2022, the report also said that Khalif arranged for and/or provided more than $3,000 in impermissible recruiting benefits in the form of one-way air transportation to three prospects to enroll at MSU. Those three prospects competed in 26 games while ineligible after they enrolled at the university.
"This case illustrates some of the inherent risks in utilizing an NFL-style organizational model—in which all off-field operations run through a general manager—without sufficient oversight and engagement by the head coach," the Division 1 Committee on Infractions said in a statement. "The underlying violations in this case stemmed from Tucker’s over-reliance on his general manager, Khalif, coupled with his hands-off approach to compliance. As multiple football staff members reported, all recruiting operations ran through Khalif, and staff did not feel comfortable bringing concerns to the head coach. The structure of Tucker’s program and his general approach to compliance created an environment in which violations occurred for over a year and a half.”
"Today's announcement brings closure to an NCAA investigation resulting from violations committed by a previous staff. Michigan State pursued a negotiated resolution to minimize the penalties and limit the possible impact on our current football student-athletes and staff, who were not involved in the violations. With this matter behind us, we are able to move forward, focusing on the present and future of Spartan football," MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz and Athletic Director J Batt said in a joint statement.
Other penalties for MSU include:
- Three years of probation.
- A fine of $30,000, plus 1.5% of the football program budget.
- A reduction in football official visits by two home games during the 2025 football season and one home game during each of the 2026 and 2027 football seasons.
- A reduction in football unofficial visits by a total of 12 weeks during the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years, with at least one week each year coinciding with a home game.
- Michigan State previously self-imposed and is credited with a reduction of two weeks during spring 2025.
- A total six-week ban on recruiting communications in football during the 2025- 26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years.
- A reduction of permissible recruiting person days in football by a total of 30 days over the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years.
- Michigan State previously self-imposed and is credited with a reduction of five days in spring 2025.
- A one-week ban on off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations in football during each of the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 academic years.
- Vacation of team wins and records in which the ineligible student-athletes competed.
Tucke will have a three-year show-case order and a suspension from 30% of the football season of employment within the show-cause order.
Khalif will have a six-year show-cause order and a one-year suspension during his first year of employment, and Jordan will have a five-year show-cause order and a suspension for the first year of employment.
