The NCAA found evidence of major violations by former Gophers women's basketball coach Cheryl Littlejohn that could result in the program being shut down for up to two years. The evidence mirrors that disclosed after the university's own investigation last year.

In another investigation, the school found six minor NCAA violations in its wrestling program since 1999 and improper use of university resources by head coach J Robinson.

In a report sent to University President Mark Yudof this week, the NCAA warned that the women's basketball violations, along with the academic fraud in men's basketball under Clem Haskins, could subject the university to penalties under the "repeat violator rule."

University general counsel Mark Rotenberg said the penalties that apply for repeat violators shouldn't apply in the Littlejohn case. The university reported major violations last spring. They shouldn't be considered repeat violations, he said, because they occurred before Oct. 24, 2000 -- when the NCAA placed the university on probation in the fallout involving Haskins.

Rotenberg will argue the school's case before the NCAA's Infractions Committee in April, and the panel will rule sometime after that, he said.

NCAA bylaws state that penalties could include the banning of women's basketball games for up to two seasons and the elimination of scholarships and recruiting activities.

In its report, the panel alleged a "lack of appropriate institutional control" over the women's basketball program for a nearly three-year period during Littlejohn's tenure, which ended with her firing last May.

The university terminated Littlejohn after four tumultuous seasons following an internal investigation that revealed what University Vice President Tonya Moten Brown called "a pattern of deliberate violations of NCAA rules."

Those alleged violations included Littlejohn paying former player Natea Motley between $200 and $300; interfering with the university's investigation into alleged NCAA violations; and making players practice outside of NCAA-approved times.

Women's athletic director Chris Voelz said she was pleased that the NCAA's report didn't find any violations other than those already discovered by the school. She also said that after Littlejohn's first violation, she told the coach that cheating would get her fired before losing.

"But she had both," Voelz said.

Littlejohn, who now coaches at Chicago State, was fired in May when the university completed its investigation.

The violations in the wrestling program are less serious.

The violations are considered "secondary in nature" by NCAA bylaws and were self-reported. Five minor self-imposed penalties and five steps to prevent future violations also were presented to the NCAA.

Tom Moe, men's athletic director, said most of the violations stemmed from administrative oversights.

"There really is nothing significant that was found," Moe said. "J's program continues to be a credit to the university."

The NCAA could investigate further, but that's unlikely, said Rotenberg, whose office conducted the investigation. Rotenberg said he didn't expect the governing board to impose sanctions because of the wrestling violations.