Florida Gulf Coast athletic teams suffered a good number of losses without stepping foot on a field or court, the school announced May 30.
The NCAA handed down its final penalties after an investigation concluded FGCU allowed student-athletes to compete before their eligibility was certified. Overall, seven Eagles programs vacated a combined 82 wins between 2022 and 2024.
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Previously: FGCU put on probation, fined $25,000, forfeiting games for NCAA violations in 10 sports
FGCU athletics was placed on two years’ probation and received a $25,000 fine after negotiating a settlement with the NCAA, the sides announced April 25.
The university did not make FGCU Director of Athletics Colin Hargis immediately available for comment.
The investigation began with former FGCU men’s tennis coach Davidson Kozlowski, who violated multiple NCAA rules when recruiting Bucknell University student Harrison Gold after the coach’s hiring from Drake University in June 2023. The Eagles fired Kozlowski in February 2024 before he coached a match after discovering Gold was taking classes at Bucknell while living in Southwest Florida and training with FGCU, among other violations. Gold stayed in a hotel and ran up $10,000 in costs that Kozlowski promised to pay but didn’t.
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While investigating Kozlowski, the university conducted a review that revealed 18 athletes across 10 sports during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years practiced and/or played before their eligibility was certified. One athlete competed in five contests before it was discovered he did not graduate from his two-year school before transferring to FGCU, and another competed after using five seasons of eligibility during 2023-24.
The university reported the errors and cooperated with the NCAA during a 16-month review. FGCU Director of Athletics Colin Hargis reported that 17 of the 18 student-athletes were reinstated once the clerical issues were discovered.
The hardest hit was softball, which had to vacate 31 wins and its 2024 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament championship, along with an NCAA Tournament win over Florida Atlantic. The ruling dropped longtime coach Dave Deiros from 810 career wins to 779.
Baseball lost 22 games, including their ASUN Co-Championship from the 2024 season and a win over No. 16 Florida State on March 4. They also forfeited three wins to Central Arkansas during the 2024 season.
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The men’s basketball team lost nine games, including their win over Florida Atlantic, which was ranked No. 7 in the country on Dec. 30, 2023. That was Pat Chambers’ biggest win to date in his three seasons leading the program.
The women’s basketball team lost six games from Dec. 7, 2023, to Jan. 6, 2024. Those wins came against Gardner-Webb, Drexel, Southern Miss, Webber International, Jacksonville, and North Florida.
The men’s soccer team saw seven wins vacated from Aug. 28, 2022, to Nov. 5, 2022, including a 1-0 win over Northwestern. Women’s golf also had a pair of tournament wins wiped away in 2023 (Atlantic Invitational) and 2024 (Puerto Rico Classic).
The men’s tennis team, which was found to have committed multiple infractions for impermissible benefits along with eligibility issues and prompted the NCAA investigation, had its entire 2024 season, in which they went 5-14, wiped away.
Florida Gulf Coast Eagles head coach David Deiros walks past the school logo before an ASUN Conference game at Florida Gulf Coast’s softball complex in Fort Myers, Fla., on Friday, May 2, 2025.
Of the 82 total losses, baseball suffered 15 ASUN losses, while softball lost 14. Men’s basketball was handed five losses, while men’s soccer lost four. Women’s basketball and men’s tennis each suffered two conference losses.
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Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: FGCU teams vacate 82 wins in 7 sports as part of NCAA infractions case
