Southern Methodist University says they'll appeal some of the sanctions handed down Sept. 29 by the NCAA Committee on Infractions against the school's men's golf and basketball programs.
In a statement Friday, SMU said they'll appeal the following sanctions:
- The duration of scholarship losses in men’s basketball and men’s golf and the duration of recruiting restrictions in men’s basketball.
- The penalty level applied to men’s golf and resulting post-season ban both for the team and for individual competition.
- The vacating of men’s basketball victories during the 2013-14 season due to the participation of a student deemed ineligible by the Committee.
"Our appeal will be based not only on expected mitigating factors, but also on what we believe is a misapplication and/or a misinterpretation of the NCAA’s new penalty structure, as well as some notable procedural errors in this case," SMU said.
SMU does not plan to appeal the postseason ban on men’s basketball or partial season suspension of men's basketball coach Larry Brown.
"The simple fact is that the NCAA penalty structure mandates at minimum a one-year post-season ban for the level of misconduct that occurred, in our case, when a former staff member completed an online high school course for a prospective student-athlete, committing academic misconduct. In addition, should we appeal this matter, the lengthy process and uncertainty during this period could harm many aspects of the program. Coach Brown and his staff also agree that it is in the best interests of the program to accept these sanctions and move forward," the school said.
SMU also added they regret the violations of the NCAA bylaws and that they take the matter very seriously.
