Nov. 24 (UPI) — Former Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt allegedly used a Chick-fil-A bag to surreptitiously hand cash to the mother of one of his players in late 2020, according to NCAA documents.
The school was reportedly notified of the details in July, according to a 108-page document obtained on Thursday by the Knoxville News Sentinel.
In July, the NCAA accused Pruitt and his staff of giving cash and gifts to players and their family members. It also outlined how his wife Casey Pruitt, covered car and rent payments worth $15,000 for one player and his mother.
Pruitt and several of his staff members were fired by the school in January of 2021, after three years on the job. The school cut ties after an internal investigation into alleged recruiting violations.
The firing negated a $12.6 million buyout Pruitt wracked up after a 16-19 record over three seasons at the University of Tennessee.
Thursday’s documents detail the nature of 18 violations by Pruitt and his staff. Tennessee disputes six of those 18 claims. It also denied that it failed to monitor Pruitt.
The $300 cash payment was allegedly part of a larger amount of $12,707 Pruitt gave to the player and his family. The money was found to be a prohibited benefit and was paid out during his recruitment and enrollment at Tennessee.
Pruitt is also accused of giving the player’s mother $3,000 to pay overdue medical bills.
The woman allegedly shared those details with NCAA investigators in April 2021.
The Volunteers currently sit in second place in the Southeastern Conference with a 9-2 record and play Vanderbilt on Saturday in the team’s quest for its first 10-win season since 2001.
