"Allegations are factually untrue": Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman issues stern 3-page letter in response to NCAA violations

Tennessee Volunteers Chancellor Donde Plowman had responded to the NCAA after they began an investigation into the school.

Tennessee is under investigation for violations related to name, image and likeness. The Vols could be sanctioned as repeat violators, as they were charged with 18 Level 1 violations and fined a record $8 million in the summer of 2023.

The current investigation revolves around activity related to the Spyre Sports Group, which is Tennessee's primary NIL collective, with the case being primarily tied to football.

Since the investigation started, Tennesssee has pushed back against the NCAA.

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Donde Plowman issues stern letter to NCAA

After the investigation by the NCAA started, Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman issued a scathing three-page letter, which was obtained by VolQuest and ESPN, with part of the letter reading:

"The leaders of intercollegiate athletics owe it to student-athletes and their families to establish clear rules and to act in their best interest. Instead, two and a half years of vague and contradictory NCAA memos emails and "guidance" about name, image and likeness (NIL) has created extraordinary chaos that student-athletes and institutions are struggling to navigate. In short, the NCAA is failing.

"Earlier today, a team from the University of Tennessee met with members of your enforcement staff to discuss allegations the NCAA intends to bring against Tennessee related to NIL. We appreciate your staff listening to our arguments and agreeing to evaluate them.

"The NCAA's allegations are factually untrue and procedurally flawed. Moreover, it is intellectually dishonest for the NCAA enforcement staff to pursue infractions cases as if student-athletes have no NIL rights and as if institutions all have been functioning post-Alston with a clear and unchanging set of rules and willfully violating them."

Plowman also pointed to Tennessee admitting when it is wrong and accepting the sanctions by the NCAA.

This time around, Plowman said the school did nothing wrong and is annoyed the NCAA is even investigating it.

"It is intellectually dishonest for the NCAA staff to issue guidelines that say a third-party collective/business may meet with prospective student-athletes, discuss NIL, even enter into a contract with prospective student-athletes, but at the same time say that the collective may not engage in conversations that would be of a recruiting nature," she said in the statement.

"Any discussion about NIL might factor into a prospective student-athlete's decision to attend an institution. This creates an inherently unworkable situation, and everyone knows it. Student-athletes and their families deserve better than this, as do the universities and athletic departments trying to manage and follow the rules."

Since the investigation began, Tennessee has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA.