Oklahoma State Given 1 Year NCAA Tournament Ban

The NCAA is known to hand down penalties after a lengthy investigation, and the latest victim is the Oklahoma State Cowboys. They have been given a 1-year NCAA tournament ban, but they will be appealing the decision.
Other punishments include scholarship restrictions that last until the 2022-23 academic year. Along with other recruiting restrictions, the Cowboys self-imposed a $10,000 fine
The penalties come from the Level 1 violation involving former associate head coach Lamont Evans. He was accepting bribes between $18,150 and $22,000 to steer players to certain agents and advisors. He was also talking with athletes from Oklahoma State, as well as South Carolina.
In June 2019, Evans was sentenced to 3-months in prison for his wrongdoing. The NCAA also gave him a 10-year show-cause penalty that restricts him of athletic duties if he is hired once again by any member of the NCAA.
“The conduct at issue in this case was related to a broader scheme that involved money and influence at the intersection of college and professional basketball,” the committee said in its decision. “The scheme resulted in the arrest and prosecution of multiple individuals — including college basketball coaches — on conspiracy and bribery charges, and it led to significant NCAA reforms.”
One issue that many fans have had with the NCAA is their consistency on punishments and penalties. Some schools have had investigations into an issue without discipline, while others get the book thrown their way.
The school isn’t happy about the penalties that they have received. The University believes strongly in the appeal they are issuing.
“The University is stunned by the severity of the penalties and strongly disagrees with them,” read a statement from the school. “The penalties do not align with the facts and are unfair and unjust. The NCAA agreed with OSU that Lamont Evans acted alone and for his own personal gain. Evans was terminated by OSU on Sept. 28, 2017, within 72 hours of learning of allegations against him.”
This is a result of the FBI probe that looked into the corruption taking place in college basketball. Oklahoma State is the first school to receive an official punishment from the investigation.
Other Schools on Guard
Other schools that have received a notice of allegations from the NCAA involving this investigation include Kansas, Louisville, NC State, South Carolina, TCU, and USC. This is along with Arizona and LSU who are currently under investigation with their men’s basketball programs.
Other schools with the notice are now a little more concerned. However, the NCAA has been anything from consistent when it comes to infractions.
Larry Parkinson, the COI Chief Hearing Officer and the Director of Enforcement for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, believes other teams shouldn’t look too much into this decision.
“Each case is unique,” Parkinson said. “I would caution against reading too much in from one decision. The panel bases its conclusions on the record before it, and as other cases come before either this panel or others panels we’ll decide those cases based on the facts and circumstances of those individual cases. Having had only one and this being the first, I think time will tell whether other cases are similar or dissimilar.”