No New Updates for Cowboy Basketball's NCAA Appeals Process
STILLWATER – It’s been a little over four months now since the NCAA handed down the penalties in regards to the Lamont Evans investigation. Shortly after the penalties were passed down, Oklahoma State announced they would be formally going through an appeals process to try and get the severity lowered.
Prior to the first official practice of the 2020-21 season, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton gave an update to the appeals process.
"No, not at this point,” Boynton said of if he had new information on the NCAA appeals process. “It's not moving as fast as I think people thought it was and I think thought it would initially, I don't know if we have anymore clarity on the finality of it at this point. As soon as we know more information, we'll pass it along."
Cade Cunningham, who was also made available to the media before the start of practice, was asked if he or his teammates ever think about the sanctions.
"Honestly, I never think about it until I get asked about it," said Cunningham. "It's never in my thought process. Basketball is something that I've always done and always been a passion for me. So when I go out there, everybody's just working out like we're playing for a national championship. We never think about it. We still feel like we're competing for a national championship. Even if we aren't, whatever. We're just having fun and competing really."
Evans, who was fired in the fall of 2017 when the FBI investigation was first announced, accepted between $18,150 and $22,000 in bribes to direct players to sign with certain financial advisors.
Following a near-four-year investigation, the NCAA's Committee on Infractions handed down these punishments on June 5, 2020.
- Three years of probation.
- A 2020-21 postseason ban for the men’s basketball team.
- A $10,000 fine plus 1% of the men’s basketball program budget (self-imposed by the university).
- A reduction of men’s basketball scholarships by a total of three during the 2020-21 through 2022-23 academic years.
- A reduction of men’s basketball official visits to 25 during the 2018-19/2019-20 rolling two-year period and to 18 during the 2019-20/2020-21 rolling two-year period (self-imposed by the university).
- A prohibition of men’s basketball unofficial visits for two weeks during the fall of 2020 and two weeks during the fall of 2021 (self-imposed by the university). The university also must prohibit unofficial visits for three additional weeks during the fall of 2020, 2021 and/or 2022.
- A prohibition of men’s basketball telephone recruiting for a one-week period during the 2020-21 academic year (self-imposed by the university). The university also must prohibit telephone recruiting for six additional weeks during the probation period.
- A reduction in the number of men’s basketball recruiting person days by 12 during the 2019-20 academic year (self-imposed by the university). The university also must reduce the number of recruiting person days by five during the 2020-21 academic year.
- A 10-year show-cause order for the former associate head coach. During that period, any NCAA member school employing him must restrict him from any athletically related duties unless it shows cause why the restrictions should not apply.
- A prohibition of the men’s basketball staff from participating in off-campus evaluations for three consecutive days during the summer evaluation periods in 2020 (self-imposed by the university).
The postseason ban also includes the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, but Pokes Report learned over the summer that Oklahoma State will seek a legal course of action should the appeals process not go their way and they will be playing a full-slate of games, including postseason play in the upcoming season.
Oklahoma State is set to kickoff the 2020-21 season in the 2020 Golden Window tournament, a multi-team tournament in Lincoln, NE scheduled to take place Nov. 25-28.
