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Former Penn coach Allen gets 15-year show-cause penalty for accepting bribe

Matthew Holst / Getty Images Sport / Getty

A former Pennsylvania men's basketball coach has been handed a 15-year show-cause penalty stemming from major ethical conduct violations, the NCAA announced Wednesday.

The punishment comes after the father of a prospective recruit gave the coach at least $250,000 in an attempt to increase the likelihood of his son's admittance to Penn, according to the Association's release.

Though unnamed in the release, the ex-coach in question is almost certainly Jerome Allen, who coached at Penn from 2009-15. Allen testified in March 2019 as a government witness in Miami federal court that he accepted money from healthcare executive Philip Esformes between 2013 and 2015.

"I got his son into Penn; I got his son into Wharton," Allen said at the time, according to the Miami Herald's Jay Weaver. "None of that would have happened without me."

Allen's 15-year show-cause order means "any NCAA member school employing him must restrict him from any athletically related duties unless it shows cause why the restrictions should not apply."

Should Allen be hired as a coach in the year following the completion of his show-cause penalty, the hiring school must also suspend him for the first 50% of the season.

The 47-year-old is presently an assistant coach on Brad Stevens' staff with the Boston Celtics.

Penn's men's basketball program is facing discipline of its own, though it's relatively minor compared to Allen's. The Quakers' current staff will be banned from men's basketball recruiting communications from May 10-20 and May 31-June 10 this year. The team must also pay a $5,000 fine and will be under probation for two years.

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