Oregon State is officially turning itself into the NCAA compliance office. After it was learned Oregon State sent recruiting material to players in Hawaii’s football program, Oregon State is submitting information from an internal investigation to the NCAA for self-reported secondary violations.
Oregon State claims the mailing of recruiting material inviting members of Hawaii’s football program to attend Oregon State’s spring game was a simple clerical error. Whether that is true or not, it does seem to be a plausible excuse that was made possible by some sloppy database maintenance that forgot to remove some names from the prospective student-athlete list the mailing was using. Of course, the NCAA prohibits one program from having any contact with players in another program once those players have signed with the school of their choice barring a rare exception (see: Penn State sanctions and Illinois coaches showing up on Penn State’s campus).
Oregon State’s previous statement on the matter claimed the school accidentally sent mail to one Hawaii football player. That certainly seems like an honest mistake, even if it is a fairly dumb one.
Don’t expect much to happen to Oregon State’s football program. These secondary violations may only amount to the NCAA’s equivalent to a slap on the wrist at the very most. Unless, of course, there is more to this story that has not been reported at this time, Oregon State should just do the right thing, file their claim to the NCAA, and move on from this embarrassing situation.
By the way, Hawaii is set to host Oregon State in 2019. Hawaii should send invites to Oregon State for the game and have a laugh over all of this.