The U. Oregon athletic department shed some light into the ongoing NCAA investigation regarding the football program’s use of recruiting services on Friday afternoon.
According to The Register-Guard, the NCAA submitted two draft versions of a four-page document titled Proposed Findings of Violations, which had apparently been heavily redacted. The NCAA began its investigation in September after scouting service operator Will Lyles came out with information about his relationship with Oregon coaches and the players they were pursuing primarily in Texas.
The Register-Guard’s Rob Moseley reported on Saturday that both the NCAA and the Oregon athletic department agreed that “the football team’s relationships with three scouting services — including two that employed Lyles — from 2008 to 2011 were improper. However, the proposed agreement between the two bodies is only a point of discussion and not yet finalized.”
The documents also showed that both parties could agree that Oregon violated a rule that puts limitations on the number of coaches allowed in the recruiting process. According to the documents, the Ducks and the NCAA could agree that due to the scope and nature of the violations, “the athletics department failed to adequately monitor the football program’s use of recruiting or scouting services.”
Of the seven proposed violations listed, four were completely redacted, including two of the three supporting the “failure to adequately monitor” allegation. Moseley reported that the documents were so heavily redacted that it’s nearly “impossible to draw conclusions about the ultimate severity of the charges, and punishments, Oregon might face.”
Ultimately, Oregon has not received a formal notice of allegations from the NCAA, according to the Associated Press. The documents released Friday do not include any possible penalties. That same Associated Press article stated that Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullens touched on the allegations in a letter to boosters on Friday.
“While we have no specific timetable on the inquiry, we remain in close communication with the NCAA as the process advances cooperatively through each stage. Currently, pursuant to the NCAA’s process, we are in constructive discussions with the NCAA on the draft of their proposed findings,” he said in the letter.
The NCAA does not comment on ongoing investigations, and Mullens also said that Oregon would continue to work with outside legal counsel on an independent assessment of the program.