The University of Notre Dame said last week it is investigating four football players among several students who may have committed academic fraud.
Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the four players involved in the investigation are receiver DaVaris Daniels, cornerback KeiVarae Russell, defensive lineman Ishaq Williams, and linebacker Kendall Moore.
The players are being held out of practice but remain enrolled in the school.
They could be suspended or kicked out of Notre Dame permanently if they’re found to have cheated.
Daniels, Russell, and Williams had been expected to be starters on this year’s team.
Swarbrick said the investigation will go wherever the evidence “leads us.”
Notre Dame said there was evidence homework and papers submitted by the football players weren’t their own.
The university compliance office learned of the evidence on July 29 and the investigation started soon after, the Chicago Tribune said.
A finding of cheating could result in Notre Dame forfeiting its 2012 season, when the football team went 12-1 and reached the BCS national championship game but lost to Alabama.
The Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, said the school had notified the NCAA of the investigation.
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Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.
1 Comment
So what! Surely this in not the first time a football player or other big time college athlete is accused to having a paper written for him or her. Why would this rate even a mention on the FCPA Blog. At most schools, the player would be told not to do it again and probably not even miss a practice. Notre Dame being Notre Dame, it is doing a full investigation. While an investigation could find anything, there is no suggestion that the University did anything wrong, nor did the football coaching staff. While anything is possible, to suggest the 2012 season could be reversed is REALLY a stretch. All in all, I am very disappointed to see this even mentioned, other than to praise Notre Dame for its commitment to academic integrity and high standards.
Ben Fishburne
Notre Dame 1965
Occasional FCPA Blog contributor
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