Former Fordham coach relieved ‘aggressive’ NCAA probe finally over

Keith Urgo felt like a weight had been lifted on Tuesday when the NCAA finally revealed the full scope of a yearslong investigation into recruiting violations while was the head men’s basketball coach at Fordham University.

But the former Fordham coach couldn’t help but feel frustrated over the “aggressive” nature in which the NCAA looked into the matter, especially in the current climate of college athletics and considering the relatively small scale by which the Rams basketball program broke the rules.

“It’s a sigh of relief for my family and I. It’s been something that’s been hovering over us for almost three years now,” Urgo told The Post in a phone interview. “It’s been a dark cloud over my family, our program, and just finally closing it and just being able to move on, I think seemed incredibly important for me and my career. Just excited to kind of put it past us.”

In a release Tuesday, the NCAA said that it found Urgo had “violated ethical conduct rules” and “head coach responsibility rules” related to a photo shoot in Times Square for prospective recruits and spending $10,736 total on entertainment expenses during eight player visits over two years.

The NCAA rules allow for programs to spend $75 a day on entertainment expenses during official visits.

Among those expenses were Jet Ski rentals, tickets to New York Knicks games, tickets to the U.S. Open Tennis Championships and suite tickets for a New York Giants game.

The overages ranged from as little as $35 to as much as $5,595.

Nevertheless, the transgressions never extended beyond that, and Urgo felt as the investigation — which began in 2021 as a result of the program self-reporting an issue — continued, it took on a more hostile tone.

“They were treating me like I was some criminal, literally like I had broken some laws,” Urgo said. “They were just trying to do whatever they could to pin a Level 1 violation on us and none of it made any sense. We were just all confused, including all the lawyers in the situation, confused as to why they were just being so aggressive and trying to do whatever they could to bury us.”

The lengthy investigation took its toll on Urgo and on the program, he said during the phone conversation, especially this past season, when the NCAA’s investigation ramped up.

“I think in this last year, specifically, it was probably the most taxing,” he said. “This past season was definitely very difficult, because it just seemed like two or three times a week for several months, we were dealing with [the investigation].

The Rams finished 12-21 last season and 3-15 in the A-10, and the program opted to move on from Urgo after the season came to an end.

Urgo is still widely respected as a coach and beloved by his players — as seen by the reaction after his dismissal at Fordham — and he seemed positive he’ll be back on a sideline soon enough.

And he’s hoping that the full details being out about the investigation will help.

“That’s why I was so excited when the report came out,” he said. “Because for so long, people weren’t even sure for so long what was going on. Now they can see some of the ridiculousness.”