Less than two weeks after Binghamton University dismissed six players from the team and the school's athletic director resigned, and in the midst of an external investigation into the program, Binghamton men's basketball coach Kevin Broadus violated NCAA rules when he spoke to a pair of recruits on Tuesday.
Monday marked the final day of the contact period in which coaches were allowed to speak to recruits at their school.
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However, according to multiple coaches in attendance and confirmed by the two recruits, Broadus and Binghamton assistant Marc Hsu spoke to Notre Dame Prep (Fitchburg, Mass.) guards Michael Glenn and Antoine Myers on Tuesday — the first day of the evaluation period.
"I couldn't believe it," said one assistant coach in attendance. "He (Broadus) was leaving and he took the two kids down the hallway up the stairs. They came out and both kids had business cards in their hands. I was shocked."
NCAA rules state that in-person contact with recruits at their school cannot take place during an evaluation period, which runs from Oct. 6, 2009 until March 31, 2010.
Broadus denied speaking to Glenn and Myers when reached Friday morning.
"I walked in and watched a workout and that was it," Broadus said. "I talked to the coach about setting up a visit."
However, both players — Glenn of Rochester, N.Y., and Myers of Baltimore, Md., — confirmed that Broadus spoke to them about joining the program this past Tuesday.
And later Friday, after Broadus had been contacted by FOXSports.com, Binghamton announced it was self-reporting an NCAA violation.
James Norris, the school's interim athletic director, issued this statement: "Today, Coach Broadus brought a potential NCAA infraction to my attention. The coach reported contact with prospective student-athletes that was then determined to constitute a level one secondary violation of NCAA regulations. A self-report of the violation was immediately submitted to the NCAA.
"We immediately placed corrective actions on the coach and his staff. The campus is reviewing the facts to determine if additional actions are necessary.
"The campus also provided copies of the NCAA self-report to Chancellor (Nancy) Zimpher and Judge Kaye."
(Judith Kaye, retired chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals, has been appointed to head an investigation of Binghamton's basketball program by the State University of New York system.)
Glenn, the recruit from Rochester, said of Broadus: "He talked to both of us (Tuesday), for about 10 minutes about how he needs us.
"He said that he wants us to come visit the school," added Glenn, who said that Binghamton and Boston University are his co-favorites.
Myers said that Binghamton has been recruiting him since the summer.
"He was telling us on Tuesday that he needed two guards in the backcourt," Myers said. "He wants us to visit."
