It’s been a little over a month since a Sports Illustrated expose’, well, “exposed” various levels of alleged corruption in the Oklahoma State football program dating back to the early part of last decade.
While nothing has come of the allegations levied in the series — nor is anything expected to come out of it in the future — there is a bit of housecleaning in relation to that piece that has surfaced today.
Following an internal investigation, West Virginia announced in a statement that the school “has not found any infractions of NCAA rules or other misconduct” committed by Joe DeForest during his two years with the Mountaineers.
Former Cowboy players had claimed that DeForest ran a bonus program, which paid players for certain plays, as late as 2011, the coach’s final season in Stillwater. Additionally, it was alleged that DeForest gave some players various amounts of “walking-around money,” including one player who claimed the coach gave him a debit card with $5,000 on it and which was periodically refilled.
DeForest, who carries the titles of associate head coach and special teams coordinator in Morgantown, vehemently denied the allegations when they were first levied against him.
“WVU is unable to comment on the veracity of the media allegations levied against the assistant coach while employed at another institution, and defers to that institution, as well as appropriate NCAA infractions personnel, to complete a review and assessment of those allegations,” WVU’s statement read.
(Photo credit: West Virginia athletics)
