2023 has been a wild ride. As this year comes to an end, we are looking back at the best college sports scandals we witnessed this year. 

10. Tennessee Football Recruiting Violations

Starting off our college sports scandals strong, we've got the Tennessee football recruiting violations. In July, the NCAA Committee on Infractions found the University of Tennessee football program to be accountable for over 200 recruiting violations. Former head coach Jeremy Pruitt and his wife sent direct payments to two different high school recruits, totaling tens of thousands of dollars. Pruitt faces a six-year show cause order and Tennessee faces probation, vacated wins, and scholarship reductions.

9. Harvard Hockey Coach Abuse Allegations

Katey Stone was the head coach of the Harvard University women's hockey team. In 27 years, she became one of the most successful coaches in Division I hockey. However, earlier this year, Stone was accused of abuse by former players. Stone emotionally abused players and had multiple instances where she made racist comments to her team. In June, Stone announced her retirement from the program. 

8. Northwestern Hazing Scandal

In July, the Northwestern University football and baseball coach were fired due to hazing allegations. Former football players accused head football coach Pat Fitzgerald of participating in hazing the freshmen when they made mistakes in practice. An investigation also found that head baseball coach Jim Foster was engaging in abusive behavior with his players. 

Many former football players have filed a lawsuit due to the hazing they faced while at the program.

7. Florida A&M Rap Video

The entire football program at Florida University A&M was suspended due to a rap video being filmed in the team locker room. The song, “Send a Blitz” by Real Boston Richey contained explicit language and used FAMU's logo which led head coach Willie Simmons to suspend the program.

6. University of Oregon Beach Volleyball Funding

It was revealed that the University of Oregon beach volleyball team was not receiving equal funding from the school. The beach volleyball program didn't get scholarship funding, they had to practice and play home games at a public park and had to travel by a university van driven by the coach. 

Earlier this month, the entire team filed a lawsuit against the university due to violations of Title IX. 

5. Utah Gymnast Retires

University of Utah gymnast Kara Eaker publically announced her retirement from gymnastics due to abuse from her coach, Tom Farden. Utah hired investigators to look into the alleged abuse, but they found no proof of abuse. Eaker called this investigation “Incomplete at best” and was disappointed in the lack of evidence used. 

4. Mel Tucker Sexual Harassment

Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker faced a massive scandal this year. In September, Tucker was suspended without pay due to sexual harassment allegations by Brenda Tracy, a sexual assault prevention speaker who was hired by the Michigan State athletic department. 

Tucker has since been fired from the program and a hearing officer determined that he violated the Michigan State sexual misconduct policy.

3. Auburn Softball Coaching Scandal

Auburn University softball player Carlee McCondichie publicly announced that she would not be using her extra year of eligibility at Auburn due to the toxic nature of their program. The players seemed to split, some took McCondichie's side and others took the side of the coaching staff.

2. The Bowling Sex Scandal

This scandal includes a lesser-known school and coaches, but is one of the best we have seen all year. The assistant bowling coach at Stephen F. Austin State University, Steve Lemke, was found to be having an affair with one of his players. As crazy enough as this is…the big catch is that the head bowling coach is Amber Lemke…Steve Lemke's wife (at the time)!

Steve Lemke has since been fired from the program and Amber and Steve Lemke are now divorced.

1. Jim Harbaugh and Michigan Football Sign Stealing

Of course, we have to finish the college sports scandals with the University of Michigan. Head coach Jim Harbaugh and the University of Michigan football team have had a season full of scandals. First, Harbaugh came under fire for lying to NCAA investigators about recruiting violations. This resulted in a 3-game self-imposed suspension by Michigan. 

Then, an off-field analyst, Connor Stalions, was revealed to have a mastermind plan for the Michigan football program. He reportedly bought many tickets for over 30 Big Ten Conference games with the purpose of stealing signs from these teams' plays. Stalions also wrote a 600-page manifesto that included his plans for the future of Michigan football and how he would take over the program. This scandal resulted in another 3-game suspension for Coach Harbaugh, although it has yet to be proven whether he had any knowledge of the sign-stealing. 

Michigan is the number one seed and will be playing in the Rose Bowl against the University of Alabama on January 1st. I can't deny it, if Michigan is able to come out on top despite all of their drama, I will be extremely impressed. 

Image Credit: Harvard Athletic Communications/Northwestern University Athletics

* Originally published on December 28, 2023, by Bella Nevin