Two Georgia Tech basketball players are suspended after the school self-reported violations to the NCAA.
Senior Tadric Jackson and sophomore Josh Okogie will be sidelined until the NCAA comes to a resolution on their investigation.
Georgia Tech self-reported violations after an internal investigation found Jackson and Okogie received benefits, including apparel, meals and transportation, from an individual not associated with the university. The estimated cost of the benefits came out to be about $1,200 between them both.
According to a release, the student athletes received benefits beginning in November 2016 and ending in May 2017. Yellow Jackets Head Coach Josh Pastner was made aware of possible violations in October and reported them to Georgia Tech's compliance office.
“While we never want to learn that NCAA rules violations have occurred, I applaud Coach Pastner and our compliance staff for taking immediate action as soon as these violations came to light,” said Georgia Tech director of athletics Todd Stansbury. “I continue to be proud of the culture of compliance within our men’s basketball program and across the board here at Georgia Tech. As a department, we will use this as an opportunity to review our protocols and our educational efforts and will continue to prioritize compliance with NCAA rules.”
Jackson will play in Thursday night's exhibition game; Okogie will sit it out due to injury. Neither player will travel with the team for the Yellow Jackets season opener next week against UCLA in Shanghai, China.
