By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer on Sep 15, 2013, at 2:41 AM Updated on 9/16/13 at 2:27 PM
Oklahoma State University's football program might face crippling NCAA penalties in the wake of last week's Sports Illustrated series "The Dirty Game."
Or the school might get little more than a stern look.
Opinions from three experts in NCAA enforcement are all over the board - not unlike the litany of allegations made (so far) by former Cowboys players against the school and the program in the magazine's series, which concludes on Tuesday.
"If they prove that these things happened, then there are some serious violations there," said one source with a background in NCAA enforcement who declined to be identified because he has ties to OSU as well as to the University of Oklahoma and didn't want to appear biased. "If it's rumor and innuendo and (they) can't prove any of it, then they don't have anything to worry about."
All three experts interviewed by the Tulsa World last week agree that the NCAA will be diligent and take its time interviewing subjects including disgruntled former players quoted in SI; the current coaches, players and administrators; Stillwater merchants; and OSU boosters.
"I would be surprised," said J. Brent Clark, "if this thing resolves itself in 2014. It might. It might not."
Clark, a Norman attorney who once directed NCAA enforcement (he prosecuted Southern Methodist University in the early 1980s), offers the qualification that he has two degrees from OU and wrote a history book on Sooner football. He also warns that he's been out of the NCAA business for 35 years and says things have changed - a lot.
But Clark still knows how the system works. And he said it might not be kind to OSU.
"In a way, the penalty phase starts when the allegations are made known because of the effects it has on recruiting and even fundraising," Clark said. "OSU is saddled with this, rightly or wrongly, for a long time now."
NCAA's investigation process
The credibility of Sports Illustrated's sources is under scrutiny because many of them were kicked out of the program or dismissed from the school. Also, some of the reporters' interview tactics have been widely criticized by those who were quoted, many of whom have recanted or said their words were taken out of context or they were misquoted.
But even if the NCAA finds no wrongdoing, it'll take time. Maybe lots of time. And there is no checklist for the NCAA or for OSU to follow.
"You've got to be kind of nimble," said Dan Beebe, "and go wherever the information leads you."
Beebe is the former Big 12 Conference commissioner who first gained fame as the executioner in the 1987 SMU death penalty, when the NCAA shut down and rebooted the program after a repeated series of extreme violations that reached as high as the Texas Governor's Office. Beebe trained as an investigator before he was elevated to the NCAA's director of enforcement.
Everyone agrees that the NCAA will always value meticulousness over expediency. It was true in the 1980s, and it's true in 2013.
"They're not interested in swift justice," Clark said. "They're just interested in being cautious and deliberate and stringing this thing out, so what they have may lead to other interviews and so forth."
Once SI's series has concluded, an NCAA investigator will begin seeking out those who were quoted in the report. The next step will be to interview other former players not necessarily identified in SI. Investigators eventually will descend on Stillwater.
Experts agree that OSU must immediately begin an exhaustive internal investigation and then work hand in hand with the NCAA at every juncture.
"I think they'll work with the NCAA to figure out what amount of this is accurate," Beebe said. "In my experience with the leadership there, President (Burns) Hargis and (Athletic Director) Mike Holder, they want to do what's right, and they're going to do what's right. So I would think they're going to be fully cooperative with the NCAA in ensuring that they try to get to the bottom of this."
Statute of limitations
The NCAA has a statute of limitations of only four years on sanctioning rule-breakers, and most of the alleged transgressions in the Sports Illustrated report are from 2001-07. But that doesn't mean OSU will definitely avoid trouble.
Former Cowboys assistant coach Joe DeForest - accused throughout the series as having given illicit cash to players and various other indiscretions - worked at OSU as recently as 2011.
In DeForest's case, if he committed violations in 2010 or 2011, OSU would be subject to punishment because those violations would have occurred within the four-year limit.
But the statute of limitations goes beyond DeForest's employment date.
If the NCAA finds multiple major violations, regardless of when they occurred or who committed them, the NCAA could step outside the statute of limitations boundary and identify a systemic pattern of flagrant disregard for NCAA rules and ethics.
The series alleges widespread prohibited cash payments to student-athletes; academic fraud from professors, tutors and student-athletes; illegal use and sale of drugs (including one mention of performance enhancers); and sexual inducements to prospective student-athletes.
"You'd have to look carefully at the violations to see if you could somehow tie those back to the violations that occurred earlier," said the source who did not want to be named. "And if you can, then obviously the NCAA can prosecute those."
All three experts also said this particular case - first presented with a spectacular media splash, containing extensive accusations made by so many former players, strident disapproval of those claims from other former players in support of the program, and even credibility and accuracy claims made by other media sources - is unique.
But it's also very much like every other NCAA investigation.
"The NCAA comes into this," Clark said, "with a fundamental belief that something bad happened."
Both OSU and the NCAA now must exercise patience as they dig for the truth.
"What happened? Who did it? Who's telling the truth?" the source said. "It's going to take some time to winnow that all out, and I'm sure the NCAA's probably pulling their hair out right now trying to figure out, 'Where do we go with this one?' "
NCAA investigation?
If the NCAA decides to investigate Oklahoma State University following the Sports Illustrated series "The Dirty Game," it could take months or years before guilt or innocence is determined. A look at some of the steps:
- OSU begins an internal investigation.
- The NCAA enforcement staff sends OSU a notice of inquiry.
- NCAA investigators interview those who were quoted in the report.
- NCAA investigators extend their interviews to other former players and coaches, then to current players, coaches, professors and employees.
- The NCAA sends OSU a formal notice of allegations.
- OSU sends the NCAA a response to the allegations.
- OSU officials and the NCAA enforcement staff present their cases at a hearing before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions.
- The Committee on Infractions rules on the case and, if necessary, metes out punishment or accepts any self-imposed sanctions.
- OSU may appeal to the NCAA's Infraction Appeals Committee.
Major college football programs currently on NCAA probation
| School |
Probation ends |
| Boise State |
2014 |
| Georgia Tech |
2014 |
| Nebraska |
2014 |
| North Carolina |
2014 |
| Mississippi State |
2015 |
| Ohio State |
2015 |
| Tennessee |
2015 |
| South Carolina |
2015 |
| Oregon |
2016 |
| USC |
2016 |
| Central Florida |
2017 |
| Penn State |
2017 |
Source: NCAA.org
John Hoover 918-581-8386
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Experts split on NCAA probe
