In September 2010 UT announced that it had received an official letter of inquiry from the NCAA as the result of an NCAA investigation begun in April 2009. Part of the inquiry dealt with possible recruiting violations in the football program under Coach Lane Kiffen, but the focus of the letter was primarily on basketball issues.
The NCAA investigated improper telephoning of recruits by Head Coach Bruce Pearl—and by coaches Tony Jones, Steve Forbes, and Jason Shay—and focused on the 2008 hosting of recruit Aaron Craft at Pearl’s home. When asked if he could identify the location of a photograph of Craft, Pearl lied and said that he could not, and his other coaches supported him. Pearl asked for another meeting with NCAA investigators in August and admitted that the photograph was taken at his residence.
Upon Pearl’s admission of lying to the NCAA investigators and his assistant coaches’ complicity in the lie, UT took the following actions: Pearl’s compensation was reduced by $1.5 million over the duration of his five-year contract, with the greatest amount being an immediate reduction of $500,000. He was also not allowed to engage in off-campus recruiting activities from September 24, 2010, to September 23, 2011. Tony Jones, Steve Forbes, and Jason Shay received a 25 percent reduction in compensation, which was effective October 1, 2010. Forbes was prohibited from engaging in off-campus recruiting for the same period as Pearl; Jones was banned from off-campus recruiting from September 24, 2010, to June 23, 2011; and Shay was banned from off-campus recruiting from September 24, 2010, through December 23, 2010.
In November 2010 SEC Commissioner Mike Slive first exercised the authority to suspend coaches from conference games (granted to him at the spring 2010 SEC meetings) by suspending Bruce Pearl for the first half of the conference schedule—eight games. Pearl was allowed to coach on nongame days during the suspension period and to coach nonconference games. Associate Coach Tony Jones served as head coach during the games for which Pearl was suspended.
On March 21, 2011, Coaches Pearl, Tony Jones, and Jason Shay, along with Director of Basketball Operations Ken Johnson and Assistant to the Head Coach Marc Pancratz, were fired by UT after at least one additional violation involving tickets for a player was committed on March 11.