Texas A&M In Hot Water As Transfer Reveals Under The Table Money For Recruits

4-star linebacker Santino Marchiol says that he is aware of Texas A&M committing NCAA violations.  Marchiol, who transferred from Texas A&M in June, claims to have received money from a coach to host recruits on unofficial visits. He also says that the athletic program held practice sessions outside of the NCAA’s rule book.

Marchiol also had his ankle injury mishandled, according to a USA Today article. 

Texas A&M coach provided a total of $700 cash for recruits.

Marchiol says that it was Texas A&M linebackers coach Bradley Dale Peveto who supplied the cash to entertain prospects on their unofficial visits. He claims to have been provided hundreds of dollars by the coach for 2 separate weekends, to be provided to players such as Nakobe Dean, the top rated inside linebacker in the countr by Rivals.com.

It is a clear cut NCAA violation for a coach to give money to a recruit, even if using an intermediary like Marchiol.

In total, Marchiol says he was handed $700 in cash, all of it being transferred to him in bathrooms on 2 separate occasions. The money supposedly went toward drinks and snacks.

Texas A&M accused of overworking players.

Marchiol alleges that, 4 days per week, he and his teammates were required during the Summer to spend 1-2 hours per day reviewing film and up to 3 hours per day going through conditioning sessions. If true, that would be a violation of NCAA rules that limit Summer mandatory work to 8 hours per week, with only 2 of those hours dedicated to film work.

Additionally, Marchiol says that he was expected to arrive to drills by 5:15 a.m. This would be another technical violation of NCAA rules, which mainly limit activities to 6:00 a.m. through 9:00 p.m.

Texas A&M alleged to have mishandled player’s injury.

When Marchiol hurt his ankle, he was allegedly told to take 4 ibuprofens and continue to practice. He says he did so until he couldn’t feel his ankle anymore.

Marchiol claims that he was pushed to play through his injury and that it was the final straw that led to his transfer request to Arizona.

This issue could also become the deciding factor in any dispute as to whether Marchiol is granted a waiver to play immediately at Arizona. A waiver is provided when the former program acted to directly impact a player’s health, safety and well-being.

While it would be hard for Marchiol to justify that receiving cash from coaches to service recruits meets the threshold for the waiver, causing him to play through injury, if proven, should do the job.