Oklahoma State Football: The OSU Scandal

Jul 22, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy speaks to the media during the Big 12 media days at the Omni Dallas Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma State University is in hot water.

Academic fraud, an assistant coach paying athletes based on their performance, players being overpaid by boosters, and sex being provided to recruits via a hostess program. These are just a few of the allegations being made against the university in a Sports Illustrated report.

The good news is, there are currently no NCAA or eligibility concerns, seeing that none of these allegations involve any present athletes or staff members, however, the university is looking to bring in an outside investigator in order to assure the present-day program is in concurrence with the NCAA.

85 percent of the allegations supposedly took place during a six year stretch between 2001 and 2007.  The Statute of Limitations on NCAA violations is four years.

The report consists of the following allegations…

• Boosters and coaches paying athletes, violations from paying for jobs that were not even performed, overpaying for jobs and paying athletes based on their performance.
• An accusation of former assistant coach Joe DeForest heading a bonus program that payed athletes for specific plays in 2011. DeForest served at OSU for a total of 11 seasons, he is now in his second year at West Virginia as an assistant coach. He has denied the charges.
• Academic impropriety, with athletes not attending class, grade changes, and tutors completing athletes assignments for them.
• Drug abuse and a drug policy that is not systematically administered.
• Sex being provided to recruits by hostesses in the Orange Pride program.

Coach Mike Gundy succeeded Les Miles in January 2005. Following the LSU vs. Alabama at Birmingham game, Miles denied having any knowledge of any indecency during his tenure at OSU.