Casey Pruitt, the wife of former Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt, avoided a penalty for her part in the NCAA recruiting scandal.
She could’ve gotten a show-cause penalty. It’s a punishment usually meant for college coaches who break NCAA rules, so that would’ve been quite a distinction for a coach’s wife.
But Casey Pruitt is a unique case as a former NCAA compliance worker. She was in charge of enforcing NCAA rules in athletic departments at Troy University, University of Oklahoma and Florida State University from 2009-13, before marrying Jeremy.
On Friday, the NCAA handed down its verdict in the recruiting scandal that spanned most of Jeremy Pruitt’s tenure as Vols coach from 2018 to early 2021.
Because Jeremy Pruitt was judged to be responsible for the majority of the 18 highest-level infractions, he was given a six-year show-cause sentence. A institution that incurs a show-cause penalty is prohibited from hiring a coach or recruiter for the duration of the suspension without the consent of the NCAA. A 100% ban for the first year of employment, should an NCAA institution hire Jeremy Pruitt for any athletics role, is part of his show-cause.
Additionally, recruiting director Bethany Gunn (five years), assistant director Chantryce Boone (10 years), director of player personnel Drew Hughes (four years), student assistant Michael Magness (three years), and assistant coaches Derrick Ansley (two years), Brian Niedermeyer (five years), and Shelton Felton (four years) were all given show-cause penalties.