The Jaguar and Lady Jaguar basketball teams at Jacksonville College are on probation by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) for the 2017-18 year, according to a press release issued by the college Wednesday morning.
The probation is the result of how NJCAA views signed Letters of Intent reporting process on 'performance grants.'
Jacksonville College views the grants as tuition aids; however the NJCAA views them as althletic aid.
During the probation period, the teams will not be able to participate in Regional and/or NJCAA sponsored tournaments, meets and games in one or more sports for a period of one year.
The press release also states, in part:
"The goal of Jacksonville College is to adhere to the highest standards of integrity; therefore, we defer to the NJCAA's interpretation of "Performance Grants." Regrettably, our Jaguar and Lady Jaguar teams will forfeit participation in the Region XIV 2018 Tournament. Even though Jacksonville College teams are not eligible to compete, we are excited about the economic opportunity that hosting the regional tournament creates for the City of Jacksonville.
We are most proud of our Jaguar teams this 2017-2018 performance season. The Jaguars are leading the south division conference, and the Lady Jaguars are leading the conference."
