Florida State has been hit with wide-ranging sanctions by the NCAA over NIL-related recruiting violations that occurred within the program.

A Florida State assistant coach is said to have facilitated an NIL deal between a recruit and a collective associated with the school. Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported on Thursday that offensive coordinator Alex Atkins is the coach in question and the collective is believed to be Rising Spear.

Atkins has been found to have committed two Level II violations, which include impermissible recruiting activity and facilitating impermissible contact with an NIL-related booster. Atkins is alleged to have driven a recruit and his parents to a meeting with a booster where the recruit was offered an NIL opportunity worth approximately $15,000 per month during his first year at the school.

According to the NCAA, Atkins has been handed a two-year show cause, a three-game suspension to be served at the start of the 2024 season, and a two-week restriction on recruiting communication.

Florida State has received two years probation. The school must also disassociate with the booster for three years and disassociate from the collective for one year. As part of the dissociation, Florida State cannot accept assistance from the collective and the collective cannot contribute to the athletic program in any way.

From the NCAA’s notice:

A Florida State assistant football coach violated NCAA rules when he facilitated an impermissible recruiting contact between a transfer prospect and a booster, according to an agreement released by the Division I Committee on Infractions. During that contact, the booster encouraged the prospect to enroll at Florida State and offered a name, image and likeness deal as a recruiting inducement. The assistant coach then violated ethical conduct rules when he provided false or misleading information about his involvement in the arranged meeting.

The school, assistant coach and enforcement staff agreed that the violation occurred after a prospective transfer student-athlete entered the NCAA Transfer Portal and communicated with the assistant coach to arrange an official visit to Florida State. During that visit, the assistant coach transported the prospect and his parents to and from an off-campus meeting with a booster, who at the time was the chief executive officer of an NIL collective that also was a booster. The prospect and his parents stated the assistant coach informed them that they would be meeting with the booster. The coach did not stay for the meeting.

…

The school, enforcement staff and assistant coach also agreed that during the enforcement staff’s investigation, the assistant coach violated unethical conduct rules when he knowingly provided false or misleading information about his knowledge of and involvement in the violations. Specifically, on two occasions, he denied facilitating the meeting between the booster, prospect and prospect’s family. However, the assistant coach was truthful about aspects of the violations, including acknowledging his role in transporting the prospect and his parents to the location where they met with the booster. Although providing false and misleading information historically supports a Level I violation, the unique facts and circumstances of this case supported a Level II violation. 

The sanctions against FSU are believed to be the most serious and unprecedented during the two-plus years since name, image, and likeness rules went into place.

According to Dellenger, Atkins is expected to remain on Mike Norvell’s staff at FSU. The recruit in question withdrew their name from the transfer portal and remained at their previous school.

Other sanctions handed down to FSU include a $5,000 fine plus 1% of the football budget, a 5% reduction in football scholarships over the two-year probationary period (five total scholarships), a reduction in official visits for the football program in the 2023-24 academic year by seven, a reduction in football recruiting communications for a total of six weeks during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years, and a reduction in the number of in-person recruiting days during the 2023-24 academic year by six evaluation days during fall 2023 and 18 during spring 2024.