University of Southwestern Louisiana basketball scandal

In 1973, the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) was penalized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for rules violations concerning the university's basketball program. This followed an investigation in which the association discovered that the program had been fielding academically ineligible players and paying student athletes, in violation of the NCAA's rules. As a result, the NCAA applied the "death penalty" to the program, barring them from competing for two years, in addition to other forms of punishment that included a probation period and a removal of voting rights in the association.

In the late 1960s, Beryl Shipley, who had been the head coach of Southwestern Louisiana's basketball program since 1957, began to recruit African American players into what had formerly been a racially segregated athletics program. With several African American star players on the team, the basketball program saw a period of marked success in the 1960s and early 1970s that included several appearances in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. However, issues regarding athletic scholarships for these student athletes ultimately resulted in the NCAA placing the university on probation. Several years later, in 1971, the NCAA received a tip that there had been further rules violations at the university, resulting in a formal investigation. In total, the NCAA leveled accusations of about 125 instances of rules violations against the university. Specific charges included the payment of several players, including by Shipley himself, in direct violation of the NCAA's policy of amateurism. Additionally, the association found that the team had played several academically ineligible players. In one instance, the NCAA found that an assistant coach had doctored a player's transcript and forged a signature in order to demonstrate his eligibility.

As a result, the NCAA barred the basketball program from fielding a team for two years and instituted a four-year period during which time the university's athletics programs could not have their games televised or compete in postseason play. Additionally, the university was stripped of voting rights in the association for four years and was placed on an indefinite period of probation. The punishments have consistently been considered the most severe in the NCAA's history, and as of the 2010s, it remains one of only five times that the death penalty has been applied to a member institution. Shipley, who retired shortly before the punishments were applied, eventually retired from basketball coaching and maintained his innocence in the scandal until his death in 2011. Following the two-year death penalty period, the university resumed its basketball program under the direction of new head coach Jim Hatfield.