Part 2 of Sports Illustrated's continuing investigative report into Oklahoma State football details alleged academic misconduct, including former players saying they had coursework done by tutors or staffers, were provided answers to exams in advance and received passing grades that weren't earned.
The story posted on SI.com on Wednesday reports that 13 players who were at OSU from 2000-11 told the publication they participated in some form of academic misconduct, and 16 others were identified by teammates as having schoolwork done for them.
Former head coach Les Miles (2001-04) was said to have held up two fingers while saying "Academics first" and holding up one finger while saying "Football second." Miles told SI it was meant in humor and he denied allegations in the story.
Former players implicated by teammates include some of the same ones mentioned in Tuesday's piece on players being paid: running back Tatum Bell, quarterback Josh Fields, safety Vernon Grant and cornerback Darrent Williams.
Vicki Warren, who as an OSU academic tutor for athletes in 2006-08 worked with multiple football players quoted in the SI story, told the Tulsa World she was surprised by the accusations.
"I never, ever, ever picked up a pen and paper if we did any homework," Warren said. " ... I didn't even do so much as give them a pencil. If they didn't come prepared I told them, 'No, I'm not giving you supplies. You can borrow them from a friend.'
"That was the attitude around the center. I never saw any situation where a tutor was sitting down and doing someone's homework."
Warren said tutors were trained on NCAA rules and signed an agreement saying they would abide by them.
"At the beginning of every school year, we had a mandatory two- or three-hour training over what the NCAA rules were, what we could do, what we couldn't do," she said. "There was an academic coordinator that we talked to if we had questions."
SI also called into question the credentials of academic adviser Terry Henley, who was accused of steering players to easy classes and majors.
Ben Buie, a center who played at OSU in 2000-03, said it's unfair the article "shed a negative light" on what Henley does.
"He played there, so he offers a perspective to the guys that is relatable," Buie said. "When we first came in, we took a (one-credit hour) class called Life Skills. ... He would go through and teach us scenarios that we were going to encounter throughout our career and how to handle it.
"He has always gone the extra mile to help kids out any way that he can. He checks classes and communicates with professors to make sure his kids are doing what they're supposed to be."
Former Cowboy receiver Dez Bryant, a second-team academic All-Big 12 selection in 2008, was named by teammates as a player who had coursework done for him and was escorted to class by a football staff member. To SI, he denied the claims.
OSU professors were accused of giving football players passing grades for little or no work. The only one named was former assistant professor Ronald Keys, who players said wrote their papers and did their homework.
Marilyn Middlebrook, OSU's associate athletic director for academics - who was not contacted for the article - said she has told professors to give athletes the grade they deserve.
"If the faculty member would work with that student the same way he would work with another student, then I have no problem with it," she said. "But if he's giving a special treatment to a student-athlete, then I would not condone it. And I would tell him that."
The story also notes that despite the alleged academic misconduct, OSU had an Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of 933 in 2003-12 that equates to a graduation rate of slightly above 50 percent.
While many of the players who reported being involved in academic misconduct played at OSU in the early 2000s, some are from the Gundy era, including Herschel Sims (2011), LeRon Furr (2009-10), Artrell Woods (2006-08) and Marcus Richardson (2007).
Woods, who also was quoted in Tuesday's story as saying former teammate Bobby Reid was given money and later cut off when he was no longer a starter, said in Wednesday's piece that he didn't write a single paper at OSU but typed what tutors dictated to him. He also told SI that a professor gave him a "B" in class because he felt bad for Woods after the serious back injury he suffered in 2007 while weightlifting.
On Wednesday, Woods posted on Facebook: "I don't give a (expletive deleted) about who got paid or from who. Don't know (expletive deleted) about who got paid what and from who. But what I do know is, I broke my (expletive deleted) spine ... (and) they wouldn't even make sure I got a degree."
A source told the Tulsa World that Woods was on athletic scholarship after his injury and could have finished his career at OSU and graduated but decided to quit the team. He was then put on medical exemption and wouldn't count against the scholarship limit, the source said, but later decided he wanted to play again and transferred to Division II Central Oklahoma.
Sports Illustrated's cover story this week, "The Dirty Game," details alleged improprieties that occurred during OSU's rise from mediocrity to national prominence. The first part, titled "The Money," was launched Tuesday morning on SI.com and included allegations of players being paid by boosters and coaches for performance and off-the-field work not performed.
The series continues Thursday ("The Drugs"), Friday ("The Sex") and Tuesday ("The Fallout").
SI Series Schedule
Sports Illustrated's five-part investigative series on Oklahoma State's football program was launched Tuesday. The project will continue this week and conclude next week.
The schedule
Part 1: Money (Tuesday). SI quotes past players alleging that OSU was lax on booster access to players, and that coaches and boosters provided payments to players.
Part 2: Academics (Wednesday). SI alleges that "widespread academic misconduct" was part of the OSU football culture.
Part 3: Drugs (Thursday). SI will allege that OSU tolerated and, at times, enabled recreational drug use.
Part 4: Sex (Friday). SI will allege that OSU's hostess program, Orange Pride, was prominent in recruiting and a small subset of the group had sex with recruits.
Part 5: The Fallout (Tuesday, Sept. 17): SI will allege that many players who were no longer useful to the football program were cast aside, returning to worlds they had hoped to escape.
Kelly Hines 918-581-8452
kelly.hines@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: SI report: academic misconduct at OSU (PRINT)
