OSU receiver Dez Bryant to face NCAA officials, possibly as early as Tuesday
By BRANDON CHATMON, Staff Writer, bchatmon@opubco.com
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Published: October 9, 2009
STILLWATER — Dez Bryant's bid to regain his eligibility at Oklahoma State will likely take him to Indianapolis Tuesday for a meeting with the NCAA, according to correspondence between OSU and the NCAA.
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OSU announced Wednesday that its All-American junior wide receiver had been ruled ineligible after providing false statements about his relationship with former NFL star Deion Sanders to NCAA investigators. NCAA rules prohibit student athletes from entering into any type agreement with an agent until their eligibility has been exhausted. Sanders, who resides in Dallas, is associated with sports agent Eugene Parker, who was Sanders' agent when he played.
It's unclear at this point whether Bryant will actually travel to Indianapolis to meet with representatives from the NCAA or if a someone from OSU will go and represent Bryant.
The NCAA's investigation of Bryant dates back to at least late July and was hanging over Oklahoma State in the days before the Cowboys' Sept. 5 opener against Georgia, according to correspondence between the university and NCAA. The e-mail correspondence was obtained by The Oklahoman through an open records request.
Bryant was interviewed by the NCAA on Aug. 28 -- eight days before his two touchdowns lifted the Cowboys to a 24-10 victory and put him on the cover of Sports Illustrated. In an Aug. 31 email to OSU associate athletic director for compliance Scott Williams, an NCAA official asked "why does (Bryant's) story keep changing?"
On Sept. 2, responding to an inquiry about Bryant's status, an NCAA official reminded Williams "it is the institution's responsibility to certify the eligibility of its student-athletes," adding that OSU "must feel comfortable that Mr. Bryant is eligible to compete."
The e-mail correspondence shows that the NCAA requested Bryant's phone records from January through July. But in an email dated Sept. 2, NCAA investigator Marcus Wilson noted that NCAA staff had twice requested "certain phone records" -- on July 24 and Aug. 27 -- and had yet to receive them.
In the same e-mail, Wilson requests "that the institution confirm that Mr. Bryant has paid for cell phone usage since January 2009." In an email the following Monday, OSU's Williams says that Bryant's cell phone is under the family plan of one of his teammate and after consulting the Big 12 and NCAA Director of Student-Athlete Reinstatement Jennifer Henderson - the Friday before the Georgia game - it was determined that Bryant's cell phone arrangement did not constitute a violation.
In an e-mail sent Monday, Williams requests asks Henderson if someone from her staff could be present when Bryant "explains to Wilson why he answered the questions the way he did in the initial interview."
As OSU was preparing a press release regarding Bryant's ineligible status on Tuesday, OSU's Williams told the NCAA's Wilson that OSU would like "to be as transparent as possible" stating: "Would it be possible to release information regarding an alleged association between the former NFL player and an active agent? Would it be permissible to release information regarding the alleged workouts? What parts of the investigations are we restricted from discussing?"
Wilson responded: "We would request that institution not provide further details about the specifics of the ongoing investigations (i.e. information about the workouts, association with any agent, etc.)"
Fieldhouse USA employee Gary Oliver, a former Texas A&M player and graduate assistant, has been interviewed by the NCAA about an alleged workout involving Bryant, Sanders and Omar Stoutmire at Fieldhouse USA.
Sanders told the New York Times on Wednesday that he "jogged around" with Bryant at Fieldhouse USA before having both lunch and dinner with the All-American receiver later that day.
When asked about the situation, Sanders told the newspaper: "He (Bryant) panicked. He thought it was a violation to come over to my house and it isn't. He said no, that he hadn't been over here, and I said, yeah, he had been over here. I don't lie, and he panicked."
Sanders also told the newspaper that he was asked to mentor Bryant and that he called an OSU assistant coach for approval.
When asked about Sanders' statements, OSU spokesperson Kevin Klintworth said OSU would not comment on an ongoing investigation.
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read our take at:
http://acasualfan.com/2009/10/09/reason-no-4692-why-the-ncaa-needs-to-be-disbanded/
Congrats NCAA, you've uncovered an average college student who happens to play football and is in the spotlight. Thanks for keeping up the standards of the game.
By the way, have you thought of running the numbers on the lost TV revenue from sidelining one of football's most exciting athletes...
To all the good SOONER fans out there, my appologies...there is a difference between a Sooner fan and a GOONER fan. I eliminate all GOONER trash. Makes reading these blogs a lot more pleasant!
So you are working in an office that has been downsizing and is looking for reasons to let people go without giving any severance pay. Desperate to find a way to get workers off their books, your company hires an efficiency expert to determine which workers are necessary and which ones can be let go. The efficiency expert calls you into his office and begins to ask you a series of leading questions, most of which don’t apply to you. But midway through the interview, he stares at you and pointedly asks if you have used the company’s computer to order anything on eBay. Panicked and fearing for your job, you say no, even though you did use the company’s computer to buy that Superman Pez dispenser you always wanted. But the efficiency expert has your computer records and calls this to your attention. Shamefaced, you admit that you did visit eBay while at work. With a self-satisfied smirk on his face, the efficiency expert informs you that there is, in fact, no company policy prohibiting buying products on eBay on company time or using the company computer to do so. You sigh in relief, but the efficiency expert then tells you that you are being fired for lying to him.
This is essentially what happened to Oklahoma State star receiver Dez Bryant, except where it says “efficiency expert” substitute “National Collegiate Athletic Association investigator,” and where it says “buying products on eBay,” substitute “going to Deion Sanders’ house.”
The NCAA should be banned from College Sports! They have hit the State of Oklahoma pretty hard this season while other teams (USC) seem to have a free pass.
I guess if you are looking for a scape goat, Gundy is your man. Just roll with it, buddy, if it makes you feel better.
No indication OSU will be hit with that type of issue. No one at OSU was responsible for this. Plus, it was self reported.
I am a huge OSU fan and a season ticket holder I might add. I think OSU did the right thing to an extent. This could have been prevented. This is Gundy's accountablity on his players...drugs posession, players hanging out with fishy agents, players beating up on Stillwater police, and players raping women...WHERE IN THE F* is Gundy and his coaches?!?!
OSU has suspended Bryant, not the NCAA.
OSU brought the issue to the attention of the NCAA.
OSU, as in the case of Andrew Oliver, did so proactively because of the THREAT of NCAA sanctions including having wins removed. Does the NCAA actually suspend players or just declare them ineligible? I can not think of an actual NCAA suspension for a specific player. Tons of examples of institutions suspending players and the NCAA declaring them ineligible, but no case can I recall that the NCAA suspended a player. Anyway, on the positive side, if all goes well in Tuesday, the NCAA stipulates it was a minor violation that was SELF-REPORTED, and if deemed minor, OSU should be able to remove the suspension at a moment's notice and Bryant would be back in uniform a week from tomorrow or shortly there after...Right?
On the not so positive side, the NCAA maintains the position of a^^hole, says to the Cowboys he is ineligible and he is gone for the rest of the year and/or career.
Which brings the question I have, I guess...Why does OSU keep self-reporting/suspending kids? Not saying the season is lost because I have not been impressed with Bryant thus far this year anyway, but why did OSU not wait until season's end? As with the Oliver case, if it was brought up a week later, the baseball team would have been in Omaha already. The courts proved Oliver did nothing wrong so in essence, out of FEAR of the NCAA, we lost a trip to the CWS and now face a season of lesser expectations in football...not because something is wrong, but because we FEAR something is wrong. Self-reporting does not seem to get us anywhere, only shot ourselves in the foot. What happens if Bryant sits the whole year and next February a court decides nothing was done wrong?
Seems to me the NCAA should have to PROVE something was wrong and until then, there is no infraction, only allegations. What a bass-ackward way to run an organization.
The NCAA reminds me of an HOA on steroids. Old women with nothing better to do than walk around looking for problems.
Just let him talk. He is a loser in real life and on this board. He cannot escape it.
Despite what some of you think---this is why the media is needed from time to time. You would have thought OSU would have addressed all these matters with Bryant way back in the spring of 2009 as it became apparent he was going to be the top wide receiver taken in the next NFL draft.
Shame on Brandon Chatmon...sigh.
Where's Robert Allen?
El Presidente, Deer Creek
The NCAA and John, the ou toady, Rohde.
Both are bloated, egotistical and long past their shelf life.
Is this the same NCAA that didn't punish Bush for his direct contact with an agent while at USC?
Is this the same NCAA that allowed USC to keep it's national title and Bush his Heisman?
This corrupt organization stinks like 3 day old fish.
From GET THE PICTURE:
… The study reveals universities who belong to conferences whose champions receive annual automatic BCS bowl bids (BCS automatic-qualifier schools) received less stringent probation penalties from the NCAA infractions committee than other Division I institutions. Also, the research indicates FBS institutions receive less probation years than FCS institutions and non-football sponsoring schools. Finally, the results suggest historically Black colleges and universities in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwestern Athletic Conference (HBCUs) received harsher probation penalties than other Division I institutions.
In other words, it’s exactly why everybody nodded in agreement with Jerry Tarkanian’s classic line, “the NCAA is so mad at Kentucky, it will probably slap another two years’ probation on Cleveland State.” You make money for the NCAA, it appears, the NCAA will love you right back.
The NCAA had to pay OSU pitcher Andy Oliver an estimate $750,000 to settle Oliver's lawsuit against the NCAA. Oliver took money out of the NCAA coffers and there's no telling how much in attorney fees the NCAA paid out to it's attornies.
USC is a west coast powerhouse with high profile contacts and lawyers.
OSU isn't half the power of a USC.
Tark the Shark's quote rings pretty true.
read our take at:
http://acasualfan.com/