By John Shinn
Transcript Sports Writer
Oklahoma released the notice of allegations it was served by the NCAA Monday and there were no bombshells.
After a five-month-long investigation, the only allegation brought by the NCAA enforcement staff was for failure to adequately monitor the employment of football student-athletes at Big Red Sports and Imports from February 2005 through March 2006.
The findings were part of an investigation after OU self-reported violations and dismissed former quarterback Rhett Bomar and offensive lineman J.D. Quinn in August for accepting extra pay while working at the car dealership.
“We are eager to move forward toward the conclusion of this matter,” OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said in a released statement. “The University reported findings to the NCAA, and head football coach Bob Stoops was swift in administering action that reflects the values of the athletics program and the University.”
OU is scheduled to appear before the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions on April 14 in Indianapolis. OU must file a response to the allegations by March 8.
The process is the same as the one the school went through last April after an investigation discovered hundreds of improper phone calls to recruits by former men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson’s staff.
But unlike the allegations against the basketball program, the NCAA enforcement staff did not cite OU with a charge of lack of institutional control.
“From our perspective, any allegation related to our monitoring activities, no matter how limited, is not warranted,” Castiglione said. “The NCAA does not appear to be contesting the speed of our response or the action that we took. I think any school would agree that monitoring practices can always be improved, and we constantly seek to improve our practices, but we also recognize that it was our staff that originally uncovered and reported the violations that had occurred.
“Upon completing our investigation, the university took action above and beyond what was required under the NCAA rules. The university permanently banned the involved parties from further athletics participation at the school. Upon review, the NCAA reinstated the eligibility of the involved students. However, we maintained our original action of permanent dismissal of the involved parties.”
Bomar and Quinn both transferred to Division I-AA schools in August. Bomar went to Sam Houston State, while Quinn enrolled at Montana.
Both were forced to pay back more than $7,000 in extra benefits to charity and were not allowed to play for their new schools this past season. Both will be eligible to play next season.
Though the dealership is under new management, OU also banned athletes from working at Big Red Sports and Imports until at least the 2008-09 academic year and has moved to prevent the athletes’ supervisor at the dealership from being involved with the university’s athletics program.
The school also did not re-award or re-allocate the scholarships vacated by Bomar and Quinn this past season. It also will reduce the number of football coaches who can recruit off campus by one during the Fall 2007 evaluation period.
“We believe the system worked in this case,” Castiglione said. “We have demonstrated our continuing commitment to incorporate industry ‘best practices.’ We will continue to improve our systems — an action that was actually occurring at the time we uncovered the violations — and to refine our program.
“Our message is clear: OU will never compromise its high ethical standards or its integrity. While no system can stop all willful and intentionally concealed violations, we will always take appropriate action consistent with both NCAA rules and what we stand for as an institution.”
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
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NCAA drops no bombshells on OU
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