Marcell Dareus, last year’s Defensive MVP in the BCS Championship, will sit out two games after the NCAA ruled that he had received improper benefits during a visit to Miami this summer.
(Photo contributed))

Combined Reports
(Sept. 3, 2010)

Alabama defensive lineman Marcell Dareus must miss two games and repay benefits as a condition of becoming eligible to play again, according to a decision Thursday by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff. Dareus must repay the $1787.17 of benefits to a charity of his choice.

The university declared the student-athlete ineligible for violations of NCAA preferential treatment and agent benefits rules. According to the facts of the case submitted by Alabama, these benefits included airfare, lodging, meals and transportation during two trips to Miami, Florida.

Alabama coach Nick Saban released a statement late Thursday.

“We respect the decision but we are at the same time disappointed in the suspension,” Saban said. “We’ll continue to support Marcell as we move forward. Hopefully Marcell and all involved have learned a valuable lesson from this and like I’ve said before, we will continue to work on establishing stronger legislation in terms of agent and financial advisor guidelines.”

During the reinstatement process, the NCAA staff considers a number of factors including guidelines established by the Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, the student-athlete’s responsibility for the violation, as well as any mitigating factors presented by the university.

Based on the mitigating circumstances in the case, the staff reduced the withholding from a potential four games to two competitions.

The university can appeal the decision to the Division I NCAA Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, an independent committee comprised of representatives from NCAA member colleges, universities and athletic conferences. This committee can reduce or remove the condition, but it cannot increase the staff-imposed conditions. If appealed, the student-athlete will remain ineligible until the conclusion of the appeals process