As a sports writer, I’ve had the unfortunate responsibility of reporting about multiple NCAA infraction cases.

When I opened up a text message to a story about West Texas A&M head coach Josh Lynn receiving a two-year show-cause order for violations he committed at Nebraska-Kearney, my brain immediately defaulted to the two questions I always ask in these situations.

How common is this violation?

It’s no secret that some recruiting violations are common in the Non-FBS ranks. The NCAA does not have the time or personnel to scrutinize all three divisions, which leads to a significant focus on Division I institutions and less emphasis on Division II and Division III schools.

Lynn’s most significant violation was providing one-way airfare for an official visit to a prospective student-athlete.

This practice has been common among Division II schools for years. Multiple coaches have admitted they’ve seen it play out at many schools. It happens because the prospective student-athlete does not have the finances to travel to the school to enroll or begin practice. One coach said the airfare is typically provided to a Division I transfer expected to make an immediate impact.

“That’s another Tuesday at a DII,” one former Lone Star Conference head coach said. “Someone must’ve had a bug up their ass at UNK for Lynn. That’s a common practice at the DII and junior college levels, usually for major DI transfer. There’s a reason they’re not at a DI anymore, and you have to get them on campus.”

What’s crazy is that Lynn could’ve avoided the penalties under the current Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) regulations. One FCS coach said Lynn simply needed to find a booster to donate the money for NIL purposes, which could be used to pay for the athlete’s travel.

Should Lynn have known he was breaking NCAA rules?

It’s one thing to break a rule. It’s another thing to break a rule knowingly. One is intentional. Most coaches contacted agreed that Lynn should have known the rule. But if this is so common, why did Lynn receive a two-year show-cause order?

Let’s go back to the quote from a former LSC head coach. He said, “Someone must’ve had a bug up their ass at UNK for Lynn.”

It’s possible Lynn was unaware he was violating NCAA rules by providing the airfare. When WT’s compliance department found the violation, they contacted Lynn as part of their internal investigation. In the report, he noted that UNK had allowed him to pay for the athlete’s airfare in a similar situation.

Still, some coaches are not so quick to give Lynn a pass. According to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversation, Lynn was quick to pass judgment against another LSC team during a coaches' meeting at Media Day a few years ago following accusations of NCAA infractions leveled by another team in the conference.

Regardless, Lynn's mention of UNK prompted the NCAA to send them a letter about potential violations of NCAA bylaws. I don’t know if anyone at UNK was out to harm Lynn, but it’s clear they wanted to implicate him to cover up the failures of its compliance department.

The investigation found that football staff requested approval for two athletes to receive hotel lodging upon arrival on campus. The request was approved, but a reminder to send the corresponding official visit paperwork was included. The paperwork was never sent, and the university failed to follow up to ensure it was filed.

Lynn received the brunt of the NCAA's punishment. A two-year show-cause order is harsh, considering he was not hired by the current athletic director. Lynn will enter the third year of his tenure with the Buffs with an 8-13 overall record, which is not what boosters and the administration expected when they hired him. To his credit, he took responsibility for his actions in a statement while noting that no ethical violations occurred in hopes of limiting the effect of negative recruiting from other schools.

UNK was relatively unscathed by the NCAA, which fined it $3,744, reduced its official visits to 83 for the next two academic years, and vacated all team and individual records for all the games in which the ineligible players competed. However, the punishment lacks teeth, as sources note that most DII schools have 80-100 official visits per year, and vacating records means absolutely nothing.

The school gets a slap on the wrist, and Lynn must deal with the consequences of the violations he could have easily avoided with NIL. It’s just another Tuesday in DII.