Oklahoma Compliance Changes Aimed At Preventing Rules Violations

Oklahoma has implemented new measures designed to prevent violations of NCAA rules on recruiting phone calls in response some impermissible calls made by former men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson

Tuesday, December 12th 2006, 10:39 pm

By: News On 6

Oklahoma has implemented new measures designed to prevent violations of NCAA rules on recruiting phone calls in response some impermissible calls made by former men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff.

The changes, detailed in a report to the NCAA obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press through an open records request, include more frequent spot checks of telephone logs, a new rules compliance manual and a computer system to cross-reference coaches' phone calls.

The changes are aimed at addressing a lack of oversight that resulted in 577 impermissible recruiting calls by Sampson and his staff. Sampson is now the head coach at Indiana.

A May infractions report suggested that Oklahoma's violations under Sampson could have been detected with even a "cursory review" of phone records.

Athletic director Joe Castiglione, in a December 1st letter to NCAA Committee on Infractions director Shep Cooper, wrote that a requested timetable for the changes had not been included because "the university has already implemented most of these enhancements." Castiglione's letter lists 24 steps that the university is taking in response to the investigation.

Oklahoma's athletics program remains under investigation for violations by the football program. Starting quarterback Rhett Bomar and lineman J.D. Quinn were dismissed in August after taking money for more work than they performed at a Norman car dealership. They were each ordered to pay back thousands of dollars in extra benefits through donations to charities.