Tennessee athletics director Danny White took his turn blasting the NCAA over its investigation into allegations that UT broke rules involving name, image and likeness benefits of athletes.

On Thursday, White released an eye-opening statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“The NCAA generally does not comment on infractions cases because there is a rule against it; however, that has not stopped them in the past from leaking information to the media as they did this week about us,” White said. “Their actions made this ill-conceived investigation public and forced us to defend ourselves. It is clear that the NCAA staff does not understand what is happening at the campus level all over the country in the NIL space.”

“After reviewing thousands of Tennessee coach and personnel phone records, NCAA investigators didn’t find a single NIL violation, so they moved the goalpost to fit a predetermined outcome.”

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White did not name a media outlet, but SI.com broke the story about the investigation on Tuesday.

White didn't limit his frustration to that topic. He also went after the NCAA for its enforcement of its ever-evolving NIL rules.

"They are stating that the nebulous, contradictory NIL guidelines (written by the NCAA not the membership) don’t matter and applying the old booster bylaws to collectives," White said. "If that’s the case, then 100% of the major programs in college athletics have significant violations. This is obviously silly and not productive, as is blaming the membership whenever they are challenged."

White also suggested the NCAA should be focused on fixing its approach to NIL rather than punishing schools for rules that weren't clear in the past.

"We need to be spending our time and energy on solutions to better organize college athletics in the NIL era – something that NCAA leadership failed to do back in 2021," White said. "Student-athletes, prospective student-athletes, coaches and administrators across the country deserve better, and I refuse to allow the NCAA to irrationally use Tennessee as an example for their own agenda."

How Tennessee, NCAA traded fire in statements

White’s sharp comments are the latest in a public war of words between UT and the NCAA.

On Monday, UT Chancellor Donde Plowman sent a scathing letter to NCAA President Charlie Baker in regard to the investigation, and Knox News obtained the letter via a public records request on Tuesday.

Plowman called the NCAA a bully, chaotic, failing, flawed, intellectually dishonest and replete with defects. Plowman also vented her frustration that Baker declined to meet face to face with her or White.

On Wednesday, Plowman doubled down during a brief media availability at the UT student union. Later that day, the NCAA released a statement regarding an investigation, an action it rarely takes.

And in the background, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed suit against the NCAA over its “NIL-recruiting ban" in federal court on Wednesday. The attorney general's lawsuit mentions the UT investigation as an example of the "unlawful restriction" of the NCAA's NIL policy, and it immediately drew support from Gov. Bill Lee and other state officials.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: In statement, Danny White rips NCAA for leaking Tennessee investigation