Memphis internal report made public

Here’s a link to the full report that Memphis submitted to the NCAA in response to allegations of NCAA violations. (Thanks to John Clay’s Twitter)

Also, here’s an ESPN video of Andy Katz discussing the new developments:

Memphis’ argument is that they only used an ineligible player, Derrick Rose, because the NCAA Clearinghouse said he was eligible. They say that they were unable to find proof of any misconduct in Rose’s SAT test taking. They do not go so far as to deny it, but they say they have no knowledge of it taking place and had no reason to hold any suspicions. Here’s their conclusion in their investigation:

The University does not have sufficient information to conclude that (name redacted) engaged in unethical conduct in regard to a (redacted) taking of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Specifically, the University has no knowledge that (redacted) did not complete the SAT entrance examination. Accordingly, the University does not know whether the information included in the allegation is substantially correct and is unable to conclude whether a violation of the cited NCAA regulations has occurred.

As Katz says, Memphis is not concerned about any future penalties in terms of scholarships or probation, but they will have to plead their case on Saturday in Indianapolis in order to hold on to their spot in the NCAA record books with their historic 2007-2008 season. John Calipari, via conference call in China, will be a part of the proceedings.

The other charge made by the NCAA against the Memphis basketball program is the illegal travel benefit to Derrick Rose’s brother. Memphis admitted to the charge in their report, but chalked up the $1,713.85 extra benefit to a clerical error. They said that Rose’s brother traveled with the team on multiple occasions and paid back the athletic department for most of the trips, but as an oversight, did not pay back Memphis for two separate trips.

While this charge is getting much less notoriety and seems to be much more minor Dana O’Neil writes that it may be the issue that ends up costing Memphis:

In its letter of response to the NCAA, the university admitted that a portion of travel expenses incurred by a player’s family member — Derrick Rose’s brother, Reggie, according to several sources — was not billed to him. Rose eventually reimbursed the university.

Although Memphis contends it was not intentional, that Rose merely forgot to pay for two trips and it was an ‘administrative error,’ the fact remains that the non-payment is an extra benefit. The university said that Rose, who traveled and reimbursed Memphis for five other trips, did not pay for $1,713.85 worth of travel.

“It will be difficult to prove that Memphis knew about or was involved in the SAT,” the source said. “But they acknowledged he wasn’t charged in regards to the other allegation. They said it ‘slipped through the cracks.’”

The source also said that even if Memphis did not know about Rose’s SAT score until after the season — Rose received letters from Educational Testing Services at his Chicago home but was on campus at Memphis, according to the university — the invalidated test score basically rendered him ineligible for the NCAA tournament.

“There’s a very good chance that the [2008] Final Four will be vacated,” the source said.

It’s kind of sad that a couple free plane rides could invalidate all the work done to get Memphis to the National Title game in 2008.

Also, in a related story, Festivus was apparently moved to June 2, because it seemed like today was the day for “airing of grievances” regarding Memphis and the SAT.

Earlier, we heard about the Illinois AD who claimed to have been aware of Derrick Rose’s SAT issues “all along”, now, Gary Parrish has reported that Georgia backed out of former Memphis star Robert Dozier’s recruitment because of “concerns that he might’ve similarly. had someone take his SAT”.

I’m not sure what to think about all of this, but it’s amazing how this kind of information comes out in waves.