The 2011 University of Miami athletics scandal was a University of Miami athletics scandal involving the university's football and men's basketball programs between 2002 and 2010. As part of the scandal, these two University of Miami programs were investigated for alleged violations of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules violations, including improper benefits given by University of Miami booster Nevin Shapiro. The story was first reported by investigative reporters at Yahoo! Sports. Past scandals The University of Miami and its football team were the subject of a number of past scandals. In 1994, The Miami Herald reported that 2 Live Crew member Uncle Luke and several NFL players had offered a "pay-for-play" scheme from 1986 through 1992, giving cash rewards to University Miami players for acts such as scoring touchdowns and big hits. This allegation was verified in a subsequent NCAA investigation, which also found that the University of Miami's "head football coach and the associate director of athletics for compliance and internal operations were aware" of the payments. In 1994, former University of Miami academic advisor Tony Russell pleaded guilty to helping 57 football players and more than 23 other scholarship athletes falsify applications for Pell Grants. From 1989 to 1992, Russell had helped players receive more than $220,000 of fraudulent grants, which federal officials later called "perhaps the largest centralized fraud ever committed" against the Pell Grant program. As a result of the scandal, Alexander Wolff wrote a Sports Illustrated cover story suggesting Miami should temporarily shutter its football program and that athletic director Paul Dee should be fired. In 1995, the NCAA announced that the University of Miami had provided or allowed "more than $412,000 of excessive aid" to student-athletes between 1990 and 1994, failed to implement its drug testing program, and lost institutional control over the football program. That December, the NCAA announced that the University of Miami's multiple infractions would result in severe sanctions, including a one-year ban from postseason play and a 31-scholarship reduction between 1996 to 1999. In addition to the football team, violations also involved the University of Miami's baseball, men's tennis, and women's golf teams. Nevin Shapiro Much of the 2011 University of Miami athletics scandal involved acts by Nevin Shapiro, a University of Miami booster and fan. Some time between 1999 and 2003, under cover of a grocery business called Capitol Investments USA, Shapiro operated a $930 million Ponzi scheme,