Arizona's pending infractions case could be headed for a faster resolution after changes to the NCAA's Independent Accountability Resolution Process were approved this week.
The NCAA Board of Directors said the IARP, the semi-independent resolution process that is handling the infractions cases of Arizona and five other schools, will now have to accept the results of the NCAA investigators unless it "can demonstrate a compelling reason why additional investigation is required."
Previously, the IARP's "Complex Case Unit" of outside investigators and attorneys was given the authority to accept, modify or completely discard the findings of the NCAA's in-house enforcement staff however it saw fit.
"The oversight committee, which has expressed concerns about the delay in the resolution of cases referred to the independent process, determined that much of the delay is the result of efforts by the Complex Case Unit to 're-investigate' cases that the enforcement staff thoroughly investigated," an NCAA news release said. "Accepting the enforcement staff's results will speed the process significantly without compromising the goals of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process, committee members think."
In addition, IARP cases will now have timelines as they move from the acceptance phase to the Complex Case Unit and ultimately to the hearing panel.
There previously have been no known timelines and the IARP has yet to finish a single case, after having accepted six of them since taking Memphis' case in March 2020.
"This change will provide transparency and improve credibility," the NCAA said.
After Arizona received an NCAA Notice of Allegations -- signaling that the NCAA's investigation was complete -- the school asked that its case be moved off the NCAA resolution track and instead to the IARP. The IARP accepted the case in December but in March, UA president Robert Robbins said the school still had yet to hear from the IARP.
"They could have new findings. We just have to wait and find out what the final word is going to be," Robbins said then. "They could also very well eliminate some of those allegations that come forward as they look at, discuss some of the things that are in the allegations. They can be reduced."
In April, the NCAA said all current IARP cases would be completed within a year.
The IARP is a new resolutions process intended for complex and/or aggravated cases. It was created out of a recommendation by the NCAA's Commission on College Basketball, which was formed in the wake of the federal investigation into college basketball.
Other than Memphis and Arizona, the IARP has also taken on cases from NC State, Louisville, Kansas, and LSU.
The NCAA handed Arizona nine charges, including five categorized as Level I (most serious). The NCAA alleged in the Level I charges that:
-- Former UA assistant coaches Book Richardson and Mark Phelps allegedly arranged or were involved in falsifying academic records for two UA recruits (whom reports indicate were Rawle Alkins and Shareef O'Neal).
-- Richardson took $20,000 in bribes (which Richardson admitted to in a plea bargain)
-- Phelps tried to cover up a $500 loan he gave a player (reportedly Keanu Pinder).
The NCAA also handed former UA coach Sean Miller a Level I charge under the NCAA's head coach responsibility rule, and UA a Level I for lack of institutional control.
According to attorney Stu Brown, who works with schools facing NCAA cases, the "NCAA enforcement staff has clearly positioned the case as Level I-aggravated for the university," and a Level I aggravated case calls for a postseason ban between two and five years under the NCAA's penalty matrix. UA self-imposed a one-year ban last season.
