The UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has found himself in hot water with the NCAA after it was revealed he made a congratulatory call to Little League pitcher Mo’ne Davis.

Geno Auriemma Breaks NCAA Rules

Auriemma called up Davis, who became the first girl to pitch a shutout in the Little League World Series this summer, during the baseball tournament. The call to the 13-year-old Philadelphian was organized by one of Auriemma’s friends with the Philadelphia 76ers. After checking with the UConn athletic department, which gave it the OK, the coach made the call, reported the Hartford Courant.

Sometime after the phone call, an anonymous school filed a complaint with the NCAA, suggesting that Auriemma violated NCAA rules regarding prosective student athletes. The complaint was apparently not made by a school in the American Athletic Conference, according to conference spokesperson Chevonne Mansfield, according to ABC News.

Upon reviewing the incident, the NCAA has ruled that Auriemma’s call was a secondary rules violation. Auriemma and UConn Athletic Director Warde Manuel are accepting the league’s decision, but remain incredulous.

Though Davis is apparently as gifted on the basketball court as she is on the baseball diamond and has admitted her dream would be to play point guard for the UConn Huskies, Auriemma has insisted that he knew nothing of her prowess in the sport that he coaches for a living.

Auriemma claimed that he didn’t know if she was "a superstar or can even reach the basket." The college coach also dismissed whomever made the complaint, as well as drew comparisons between his infraction and that of men’s college basketball coaches.

"It shows you what is wrong not only for things that go on but also with some of the people that I coach against," he told the Courant. "There's guys playing college basketball driving around in cars that cost more than my house and we're worried about a phone call that I made?"

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