Oklahoma State Releases Message Regarding Kansas Basketball Punishment
In this story:
The Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball program was given a postseason ban, which took place in the 2022 postseason. This stemmed from an investigation that found Lamont Evans, an assistant head coach at the time, guilty of accepting large bribes to keep players away from South Carolina and Oklahoma State. He faced three years in prison.
For the program, though, they felt as if it was unjust for the student-athletes to be punished for something they didn't commit, which led to an appeal that wasn't overturned, but allowed for No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham to lead the Cowboys in the 2021 postseason.
Fast forward to now, and Kansas was facing Level 1 violation accusations, such as was committed by Oklahoma State in 2019. Bill Self and the program had their allegations dropped to Level 2, which allowed for a three-year probation and no postseason ban.
While the Jayhawks' 2018 Final Four win can no longer be claimed and roughly 15 wins will be erased from program history, no student-athletes who were uninvolved in the program at the time will have to face consequences that they don't deserve.
While punishments were still laid out, it's good to see no student-athletes are being impacted in a seriously negative way. Oklahoma State Athletics released a statement on this matter.
"We agree, as we stated at the time, that the NCAA should be intentional in prescribing penalties that do not negatively impact student-athletes, including bans from post season play, for violations that occurred years prior. It is good to see the NCAA make decisions with this intent, even if it is too late to help us," Oklahoma State Athletics shared on social media.
While Oklahoma State fans have the right to be upset with this ruling, given that the program was stripped of postseason play, it's good to see the NCAA understanding that this, in no way, should impact student-athletes who are innocent and oblivious to the prior corruption that took place.
Want to join the discussion? Like All Pokes on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Cowboys news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
