MARCY, N.Y. - The SUNYIT men's and women's teams each had an ineligible player participate in games during the current season and the college's athletics department has self-reported the violations to the NCAA, offering forfeits to opponents in games SUNYIT won. As a result, both teams will not be allowed to participate in the NEAC basketball championships set to begin this week.

"We regret that we improperly certified two transfer students and allowed them to participate in basketball contests earlier this season," said SUNYIT director of athletics Kevin Grimmer. "We sidelined both players once the fault in our compliance process was discovered and have self-reported the facts to the NCAA and notified our opponents."

"We apologize to our student athletes and are taking all necessary steps to strengthen our compliance process in all future eligibility certifications," said Grimmer.

The ineligible women's basketball player participated in 14 contests this season, including victories over NEAC opponents Cazenovia, Keuka, Morrisvile, Wilson, Wells and Gallaudet, and over non-league opponents Ramapo, Alfred State and SUNY Canton.

The men's basketball student athlete participated in six contests during the first semester, including wins over Utica and Cortland and conference opponents Cobleskill and Keuka.

The NCAA does not technically categorize forfeits and allows scores and games statistics to stand, although an asterisk will denote the contests in which one of the ineligible players participated.