And now it turns out, according to the NCAA — and the University of Pittsburgh, which agreed to the findings — Pitt cheated to be that bad.

It’s not designing-an-elaborate-signal-stealing-mechanism-level cheating, but according to the NCAA and Pitt, then-head coach Kevin Stallings ordered three staff members who were not designated coaches to perform on-floor duties that are off-limits for their positions, by rule.

The findings also said Stallings “developed an alert system to ensure noncoaching staff would not be caught on the practice floor coaching student-athletes.” And just in case anyone got suspicious and came looking for receipts, Stallings also ordered that practice video be deleted so that there would be no evidence to find.

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When I told you in March 2016 that hiring Stallings was a “comically poor decision,” I never had any idea what a farce it would become.

Scott Barnes, then the Pitt athletic director, hired Stallings away from Vanderbilt at a time when his popularity there had reached its nadir — and presented him a six-year contract that was still worth another $9.4 million at the time he was fired, two years after he arrived.

Stallings took over a program that went 21-12 and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2015-16, before Jamie Dixon chose to leave for his alma mater, TCU. With six of the top seven players remaining from that team, Stallings went 16-17. With only one of those guys returning in 2016-17, the Panthers recorded a mark of 8-24, the first time in more than 40 years they did not reach double-digit victories.

The NCAA and Pitt concurred in the assessment Stallings “did not promote an atmosphere for compliance.” One interesting aspect of this agreement is their assertion that he was warned by the athletic administration to cease these practices but continued.

He has not served as an NCAA basketball coach since leaving Pitt following his dismissal in March 2018. Not long after that announcement, Pittsburgh Sports Now reported Stallings, then 57, was retiring from basketball.

Should he choose to return at this point, he would be facing a three-year show-cause order from the NCAA. Although sometimes interpreted as a “ban” by media personnel and fans, what a show-cause means in this case is that any school wishing to hire Stallings would be required to suspend him for 30 percent of his first season, or nine games.

Pitt football also violated rules when head coach Pat Narduzzi was present at the school’s practice facility when three quality-control staffers, no longer with the program, functioned as coaches, giving the team more active coaches than is permitted by rule. Pitt, Narduzzi and the NCAA agreed he did not promote an atmosphere for compliance. He will miss two days of practice in the 2020 preseason as a penalty and was also forced to miss a week of off-campus recruiting earlier this offseason.

Pitt was placed on three years’ probation and issued a fine of $5,000 plus 0.5 percent of its men’s basketball and football budgets. It will face no postseason sanctions. Although the current coaching staff was not in place at the time the violations occurred, the Panthers’ basketball program faces minor practice restrictions as part of the punishment.

Under Jeff Capel, Pitt rose to three ACC victories last year and six this season, with four games still to play.

At the least, Pitt basketball no longer is a laughing matter.