NCAA finds no MSU rules violations in Nassar case
The NCAA cleared Michigan State University of any rules infractions in the Larry Nassar sexual-assault scandal, the school announced Thursday.
The school released a letter from Jonathan Duncan, the NCAA’s vice president for enforcement, that addressed the Nassar case, as well as an investigation into how the university has handled allegations involving football and men’s basketball players.
“This review has not substantiated violations of NCAA legislation,” Duncan wrote in his letter, which was dated Wednesday and addressed to Michigan State athletic director Bill Beekman. “Based on available information, it does not appear there is need for further inquiry.”
Beekman said the university “cooperated fully with the inquiry” and welcomes the NCAA’s conclusion.
Nassar, 55, pleaded guilty to assaulting girls and women while working as a campus sports doctor for Michigan State athletes and gymnasts in the region. Victims included U.S. Olympians who trained at Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics. He has been sentenced to decades in prison in three separate cases involving assault and child pornography.
The NCAA sent a letter of inquiry to Michigan State in January about potential rules violations related to Nassar, but this week’s findings didn’t come as a huge surprise.
“I think this is part of the challenge the NCAA faces,” said Gabe Feldman, director of the sports law program at Tulane University. “They are not intended to be an extension of law enforcement.”
Added Josephine Potuto, a law professor at the University of Nebraska: “I mean, it’s horrible, and it’s a crime, clearly — he’s going to be in prison the rest of his life. But that doesn’t mean there’s an NCAA violation there.”
● An Ohio State University trustee who thought football coach Urban Meyer deserved more than a threegame suspension and resigned from the board over it said Thursday that he was alone in advocating a stiffer penalty when trustees discussed the matter.
Former board chairman Jeffrey Wadsworth resigned after Ohio State suspended Meyer and athletic director Gene Smith last week following a two-week investigation, which found they had tolerated bad behavior for years from a now-fired assistant coach also accused of but not charged with domestic violence.