The NCAA has suspended Illinois wide receivers coach Mike Bellamy one game for making arrangements for an Illini football recruit to obtain a junior college degree he had not completed.

The incident occurred more than a year ago on Jan. 22, 2014, and was self-reported to the NCAA by the University of Illinois. 

According to the NCAA violation report obtained by The Daily Illini under the Freedom of Information Act, a junior college football recruit enrolled at Illinois for the Spring 2014 semester and attended classes for one day in January 2014. After he arrived on campus, it was realized he had not completed his associate degree at his junior college.

The decision was made for the student-athlete to withdraw from the University. Bellamy made an in-person visit to the junior college to meet with academic officials.

During the meeting with Bellamy, the junior college officials agreed to give the student-athlete the remaining credit hours required for his associate degree by taking an online placement test.

According to the report, the student-athlete took a placement test in the computer lab at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. According to the report, no University of Illinois staff member was present while the exam was taken or submitted.

The junior college accepted the test results and awarded an associate degree with a December 2013 graduation date to the student-athlete. Illinois contacted the NCAA to determine if a violation occurred before declaring the student-athlete eligible to compete.

The NCAA determined the arrangements Bellamy made to have been a Level III, Breach of Conduct violation for providing extra benefits. According to the report, the student-athlete in question left the University and returned in the summer, prior to the 2014 football season.

Two junior college football transfers left the University during the Spring 2014 semester. Brothers Tyrin and Tyree Stone-Davis, from Philadelphia, both transferred to Illinois from Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif., in January 2014. Both left the University before finishing the semester. Tyrin returned to Illinois in the summer. Tyree did not return to Illinois and currently plays at Western Michigan.  

Illinois would not confirm the incident involved Tyrin Stone-Davis, a junior wide receiver. The student-athlete in the report was not disciplined because he was following instructions from those advising him.

In an April 22 letter from Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas, Thomas told Bellamy and Illini head coach Tim Beckman that the incident “demonstrated poor judgment.”

“I understand it may be helpful for coaches to visit schools to obtain academic information in the recruiting process, but there is a line that must not be crossed when working with school officials,” Thomas wrote. “I want to be very clear that no member of the University of Illinois football staff may be involved with arranging academic credits, questioning or influencing grades, or otherwise intervening in the academic affairs of prospective student-athletes.”

An Illinois spokesperson confirmed Bellamy has been suspended for one game. An appeal will not be made. 

“It was disappointing to learn the NCAA chose to classify this as a violation,” Beckman said. “We’ll accept the NCAA’s decision of a one-game suspension for Coach Bellamy to be taken during the season opener against Kent State.” 

The Illini open the 2015 season Sept. 5 at Memorial Stadium. 

Sean can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @sean_hammond.