NCAA investigating UConn men’s basketball, school confirms

The UConn men's basketball program is being investigated by the NCAA, the school confirmed Thursday following a Hearst Connecticut Media report.

“We are working closely with the NCAA enforcement division,” UConn said in a statement.

The full nature of the NCAA's inquiry is unclear, but "some, if not all (of it), involves areas of recruiting," according to Hearst Connecticut Media, which cited two unidentified sources with knowledge of the situation.

Taken in the context of this fall's FBI and Justice Department probe into bribery and corruption, this isn't particularly good news for Huskies coach Kevin Ollie, whose struggling team is 11-9, 4-3 in the American on the heels of the Huskies' first losing season (16-17) in three decades in 2016-2017.

An unidentified UConn source told Hearst Connecticut Media the FBI has not contacted the school and, moreover, there is no link to the criminal case that involved multiple to men's programs, Adidas and a number of financial advisers and managers.

However, Hearst Connecticut Media noted, there has been "an extraordinary amount of criticism" in recent months of the Huskies' play under Ollie, who took over for the legendary Jim Calhoun.

Ollie coached a team ineligible for the NCAA Tournament to an admirable 20-10 season in 2013 and then took the Huskies to an unexpected national championship in 2014. But since a loss in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, however, things have been on a slide.

The timing of this NCAA investigation makes a tough season and situation even more difficult for Ollie.