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NCAA rejects Oklahoma State's postseason ban appeal

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The NCAA rejected Oklahoma State's appeal of its postseason ban, the school confirmed Wednesday.

As a result, the Cowboys won't participate in this season's NCAA tournament.

"In what is believed to be a decision unprecedented in the history of the NCAA, a member institution has received a postseason ban despite no violations in the areas of institutional control, failure to monitor, recruiting, head coach accountability, participation of an ineligible athlete or academic fraud," the school's statement read.

The NCAA initially suspended the program from the 2020-21 postseason and placed it on probation for three years. It also fined Oklahoma State $10,000 plus 1% of the men's team's annual budget and reduced its number of scholarships by three from 2020 to 2023.

Former Oklahoma State associate head coach Lamont Evans was one of four coaches charged in 2017 as part of an FBI investigation into corruption in recruiting, bribery, and fraud.

He was found guilty of violating ethical conduct rules by accepting bribes ranging from $18,150 to $22,000 from financial investors for the purpose of influencing student-athletes to use their services. Evans was sentenced in June 2019 to three months in prison plus 100 hours of community service.

Former coaches from Arizona, Auburn, and USC were also charged, while five other schools - Kansas, Louisville, North Carolina State, TCU, and South Carolina - were served notices as a result of the NCAA's investigation.

Of the four schools that had an assistant plead guilty for bribery and recruiting violations, Arizona and Auburn had self-imposed postseason bans last season, while USC escaped such punishment.

Many argue that Evans' violations didn't provide the program in its current state with a competitive advantage and that this season's roster is being punished for the acts of the program's former staff. Four student-athletes transferred to OSU in the summer to join Mike Boynton's roster, including former five-star recruit Bryce Thompson.

"This is an unprecedented decision by the NCAA. There are other strikingly similar cases that did not include postseason bans and had only minor penalties," school athletic director Chad Weiberg said.

Weiberg added: "We had a rogue employee carrying out actions that benefited him alone and he went to great lengths to assure his actions were undetectable. He was terminated when we learned of his actions."

Oklahoma State initially appealed the decision 17 months ago, making it provisionally eligible for the 2020-21 NCAA tournament. The Cowboys - and this season's No. 1 NBA draft selection, Cade Cunningham - were bounced in the second round by Oregon State.

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