Illinois coach suspended 1 game

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois assistant football coach Mike Bellamy will sit out one game next season after the NCAA ruled that he improperly helped a recruit get an associate's degree.

Sports information director Kent Brown confirmed Thursday that Bellamy will miss the 2015 season opener against Kent State under an NCAA-imposed suspension. Bellamy coaches Illinois' wide receivers.

Brown said Illinois reported the violation to the NCAA.

The unidentified junior college recruit enrolled at Illinois for the spring 2014 semester, but the school later realized he had done so without completing his associate's degree. The student dropped out of Illinois, and Bellamy in January 2014 visited officials at the community college to arrange for him to take an online class to complete the degree.