Razorbacks coach John McDonnell has built one of the top college athletic programs in any sport over more than three decades with the school. Arkansas has won 40 national championships in track and field and cross country, not counting the two that were taken away from the 2004 and 2005 men's outdoor track and field championships.

Arkansas had self-reported violations committed by former assistant Lance Brauman, who was convicted last year of embezzlement, theft and mail fraud. The convictions stemmed from his time at Barton County Community College in Kansas, part of a scandal that spawned charges against seven Barton County coaches and the athletic director and led to the firing of the school's president. Brauman was coaching Arkansas when he was convicted.

Neither the university's self-report nor the NCAA named Gay, who won the world championship this year at 100 and 200 meters. But Brauman's mail-fraud indictment identified the athlete, who transferred from Barton County to Arkansas.

"The violations involved unethical conduct by the former assistant coach, as well as an admitted failure to monitor by the university," said Josephine R. Potuto, chair of the Division I committee on infractions. "The underlying violations were not egregious in and of themselves, but in combination they formed a major case."

The university had acknowledged that Brauman and his wife provided impermissible transportation for the athlete and helped arrange lodging for him during the summer of 2003, prior to his enrollment at Arkansas. The school also reported that Brauman or his wife helped the student enroll in a correspondence course in a way that constituted improper assistance, and that Brauman asked his sister-in-law to tutor the student and helped arrange for two people to serve as proctors for tests in the correspondence course.

"The university did a first-rate job in its investigation and cooperation with NCAA staff once there was information about the violation, and it appeared to the committee that the university has a genuine commitment to rules compliance," Potuto said. "On the other hand, the university is back before the committee for the third time in 10 years. It's a repeat violator for the second time."