South Florida assistant resigns amid NCAA investigation

The younger brother of University of South Florida coach Orlando Antigua resigned on Wednesday in the wake of an ESPN.com report that the Bulls are under NCAA investigation for academic fraud.

Oliver Antigua has been an assistant coach under his older brother for the past two seasons. He has been forbidden from venturing off campus to recruit during the July evaluation period, the ESPN.com report said.

“The University of South Florida and the NCAA enforcement staff are working together to investigate and resolve an inquiry into potential violations of NCAA bylaws and university standards by one of our intercollegiate athletic programs,” the school said in a statement Wednesday. “Because the University of South Florida is committed to protecting the integrity of the investigation and ensuring those involved receive fair treatment, we cannot provide any details about the investigation at this time.”

The timing of the NCAA investigation could not be worse for a South Florida athletic department in pursuit of Big 12 membership. The Big 12 announced Tuesday that its board had voted unanimously to explore expansion to either 12 or 14 schools.

Helping South Florida’s case is its location in the heart of fertile recruiting ground. Hurting the Bulls’ case is the fact that they’re no better than fourth in the pecking order in the competitive Florida TV market and they’ve seldom been nationally relevant in either football or men’s basketball over the past decade.

An NCAA investigation will also surely increase the pressure on Orlando Antigua to show some semblance of progress next season. The former Kentucky assistant is 17-48 in two seasons at South Florida, including a 7-24 debacle last year.

Oliver Antigua came to South Florida after spending one year as an assistant under Kevin Willard at Seton Hall. Before that, Oliver was the longtime coach of New York high school basketball power St. Raymond’s.