In August, a blogHOUSTON post noted allegations of improprieties in the University of Houston athletics department.
The Chronicle‘s Michael Murphy reports that the NCAA has looked into the matter and concluded UH did nothing wrong:
University of Houston athletic director Dave Maggard received word Friday that the NCAA had cleared the school of allegations of academic misconduct that had been levied by former professor Alex Brown.
Brown, a former instructor in the university’s African-American Studies Department and a former athletics adviser, alleged that he and other “jock-friendly” professors conspired to change grades to keep student-athletes eligible for competition.
The university responded by sending records of several former student-athletes, most notably those pertaining to former football player Brandon Evans, who took 27 hours in one summer, a workload that was spread out among UH and three junior and community colleges.
Maggard received a letter Friday from Ameen R. Najjar, the NCAA’s director of enforcement, thanking the university for its cooperation in the matter and stating that “no further action is warranted,” and that “the matter is concluded.”
“This certainly is a vindication for us,” Maggard said. “What our registrar had indicated all along was that there were no irregularities involved. It’s a relief to get this behind us and be able to go forward.”
That’s good news for a struggling program.
