Sports Illustrated Responds To NCAA Investigation, Stands Behind Report

Sports Illustrated issued a statement in response to the NCAA's investigation into the allegations of program misconduct originally leveled by SI in their Sept. 2013 issue titled “The Dirty Game”.

NCAA Enforcement announced on Tuesday that they will pass along three Level II violations to the Committee on Infractions for possible punishment. None of the violations are considered Level I, the most severe.

The NCAA investigation came after the Sports Illustrated 5-part series on the OSU program entitled "The Dirty Game," that was published in September of 2013. The school also hired NCAA enforcement expert Chuck Smart to lead an internal investigation during that time.

Public Relations spokesperson for Sports Illustrated, Blake Bellucci, released the following statement regarding the NCAA's findings:

“Sports Illustrated firmly stands behind its comprehensive series on the Oklahoma State program. The investigation by the NCAA and an outside consultant hired by Oklahoma State was limited in scope but nonetheless revealed multiple NCAA violations including a “failure to monitor.” Nowhere does the report say our work is fundamentally unfounded and in fact it points to its own limitations in its ability to corroborate SI's findings.”

10/21/2014 Related Story: Oklahoma State University: Allegations Of Misconduct In The Football Program ‘Unfounded'