The NCAA delivered a harsh blow to the University of Connecticut men's basketball program Tuesday, issuing several sanctions for rules violations, including keeping head coach Jim Calhoun off the bench for three games next season.

The NCAA's Committee on Infractions cited Calhoun for a failure to monitor and promote an atmosphere for compliance, a charge that the Hall of Fame coach and the university strongly disputed while appearing before the committee Oct. 15 in Indianapolis.

Calhoun, a legendary figure in the college basketball world who is in his 25th season at UConn and 39th overall, will be suspended for the first three Big East Conference games in the 2011-12 season.

"I am very disappointed with the NCAA's decision in this case," Calhoun said in a statement. "My lawyer and I are evaluating my options and will make a decision which way to proceed."

UConn and Calhoun have 15 days to file an appeal of the decision, which was announced Tuesday afternoon by Dennis Thomas, chairman of the Committee on Infractions.

"We felt from all the information that we reviewed that this is a fair punishment," Thomas said in a conference call.

The NCAA's penalties stretched beyond the university's self-imposed sanctions submitted in September but stopped short of banning the team from participating in post-season play. Punishment includes a scholarship reduction from 13 players to 12 over three years, restrictions on how coaches can recruit and three years of probation for the program, starting today.

In the NCAA's notice of allegations last spring, UConn was charged with eight major recruiting violations, several of which dealt with the recruitment of Nate Miles, who enrolled at UConn but never played basketball before being expelled in October 2008, and the program's ties with former team manager-turned-agent Josh Nochimson.

In a response to the NCAA's notice of allegations in September, UConn submitted self-imposed penalties that included the loss of a scholarship for two years, recruiting restrictions for coaches and a two-year probationary period.

UConn Director of Athletics Jeff Hathaway expressed his disappointment in Tuesday's ruling.

"When we submitted our response to the NCAA Committee on Infractions acknowledging violations in the men's basketball program, we immediately self-imposed a series of penalties and corrective measures that are included as part of the NCAA Committee on Infractions report," Hathaway said in a released statement.

"We are disappointed that the Committee determined that additional penalties needed to be imposed. We value the principles of the NCAA and fully recommit ourselves to running a program of impeccable integrity."

In its decision Tuesday, the NCAA pointed to impermissible phone calls and text messages from coaches to prospective student-athletes, the university's failure to monitor the program, Calhoun's failure to monitor and promote an atmosphere of compliance, unethical conduct by Beau Archibald, the former director of basketball operations, and $6,000 in improper recruiting inducements as violations.

Neither Miles nor Nochimson are mentioned by name in the NCAA public infractions report. As part of the sanctions, the NCAA ordered UConn to permanently disassociate from "the booster," who is Nochimson.

The NCAA stated in its release that the university took "extraordinary steps" to recruit a top prospect. Hathaway said in the report that it was "the most intense" he has seen Calhoun recruit a player.

The Committee on Infractions added that Calhoun, in "his zeal" to get Miles enrolled at UConn and eligible to play, permitted Nochimson, who was also a certified NBA agent, to take part in the process. It said that Calhoun "overlooked indications that the booster might be breaking NCAA rules."

The NCAA added that the men's basketball staff knew that Nochimson was an agent who had a relationship with Miles.

Thomas pointed to the coaching staff's frequent contact with Nochimson - approximately 2,000 phone calls and text messages - as evidence that Calhoun failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance. He also noted that the coaching staff committed a violation by handing out 32 impermissible complimentary game tickets.

"The head coach is responsible for all that goes on in his program," Thomas said. "The head coach has to adhere to the rules and regulations of the NCAA. Not allowing an agent to become involved in your program is part of that. That's part of the responsibility of the head coach.

"… The committee felt the head coach had a responsibility to monitor his coaches and operations director to make sure they were in compliance. Look, you had over 2,000 phone calls between his staff with the booster during the time frame that the recruiting started to commence with this prospective student athlete.

"The head coach has to bear responsibility for that."

The NCAA started a 15-month investigation of UConn after a Yahoo! Sports story in March 2009 that detailed alleged NCAA violations.

Archibald and assistant coach Patrick Sellers resigned from the university in May after being accused of providing false and misleading information to the NCAA. Tuesday, the NCAA imposed a two-year show-cause order to Archibald but found no fault with Sellers.

"This is deeply disappointing to the UConn community," UConn Interim President Philip Austin said. "Let me be very clear: We will comply fully with the NCAA's sanctions and work with great resolve to restore the luster to our men's basketball program."

g.keefe@theday.com

NCAA recruiting sanctions against UConn include:

• Restricting phone calls during the 2011-12 school year.

• Reduction of off-campus recruiting days by 40 for the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 recruiting periods

• Limiting official paid visits to five for 2011-12 and 2012-13.

• The number of coaches permitted to make recruiting calls will be reduced from three to two, not including Calhoun, for six months.