Hold up on Sanders Jr.-Tide violation

Sunday the fact was made known, that Alabama had committed what appeared to be a secondary violation in their recruitment of Barry Sanders Jr. According to the Daily Oklahoman, Sanders Jr. was in Tuscaloosa over the weekend for Junior Day and his face was shown on the video board of a Tide men’s basketball game, which the paper wrote was a violation of NCAA rules.

When contacted by the Tuscaloosa News shortly after the reports surfaced, a Tide spokesperson denied that a violation had taken place based on their interpretation of the the relevant portions of the rule book. "Our compliance office is aware of this claim and has looked into it. Based on that inquiry, it was determined that no violation was committed," Doug Walker told the paper. From the News:

At issue is whether the video board displayed an image of UA coach Nick Saban and high school recruit Barry Sanders Jr. together. Still images posted online showing the two seated together at the game, according to UA, were derived from the Fox Sports television broadcast, for which UA is not liable. But while the Fox Sports image has been widely attributed to UA, the school’s findings were that the video board displayed a tighter shot that included Saban only.

Regardless of the interpretation, even if the video board flash is ultimately deemed to be a violation, it will merely be secondary in nature.