NCAA upholds 1-year post season ban on Oklahoma State University Men's Basketball

STILLWATER, Okla. (KFOR) – A post-season punishment was upheld Wednesday for Oklahoma State University Men's Basketball, this after the NCAA denied the university's appeal. All of this stems from an investigation into a former OSU associate coach who was fired in September of 2017.

OSU says after fully cooperating with the NCAA for almost five years, they feel betrayed. They have a warning for other schools.

“I'm disappointed, disgusted, appalled, frustrated. But somewhere in Indianapolis is a group of people celebrating,” said OSU Head Coach Mike Boynton.

Boynton's comment was in reaction to the news that the NCAA denied the Cowboys' appeal of the of their original one-year post season ban and three-year probation sentence. The penalties stem from former assistant coach Lamont Evans taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from financial advisers to influence student athletes. Evans was sentenced to prison time. OSU says there is nothing they could have done to stop him

“He did what he could to hide it. So, even if we had access to his bank account, I wouldn’t have found it,” said OSU Associate Athletic Director Kevin Fite.

“Let’s monitor and punished the ones that knowingly break the rules that we have in place, those responsible, not student athletes that were 7th graders when it happened,” said Chad Weiberg, OSU Athletic Director.

Now, Evans also accepted bribes at South Carolina when he coached there. The Gamecocks, however, didn’t get a post season ban. OSU did, while the cowboys say they fully cooperated with the four-and-a-half-year investigation process.

“We had one $300 violation. No failure to monitor. No lack of institutional control. No recruiting violations, no head coach responsibility, no players playing ineligible.  So, if you got those things going on, don’t do what we did,” said Boynton.

“We have all known this has been a frustratingly inconsistent, flawed process for a long time. It's broken and it needs to be fixed,” said Weiberg.

OSU President Dr. Kayse Shrum chimed in, issuing the following statement:

“I am very disappointed by the NCAA Division 1 Infractions Appeals Committee’s decision to uphold a one-year ban on the postseason competition for our men’s basketball team this upcoming season. From the briefings I received on this matter when I became president of Oklahoma State, the ban was excessive and did not align with the facts. We were right to appeal and thought we would receive fair consideration. The NCAA’s inconsistent standards and applications of penalties are a reflection of a broken system. Our one-year postseason ban is excessive, especially considering our coaches and players were never involved with the rogue assistant coach who acted alone in violating the rules, as the evidence showed. Our appeal was about seeking a fair outcome from the NCAA and supporting our innocent coaches and players, who sadly will now pay the price."

DR. KAYSE SHRUM, OSU PRESIDENT