Sources confirmed to ESPN that the NCAA rejected Oklahoma State's appeal, and has banned the Cowboys' participation in the 2022 men’s basketball postseason.
A formal announcement is expected to be made Wednesday.
Oklahoma State received a ban for the postseason in 2020. However, the Cowboys appealed and were permitted to play during appeal. Cade Cunningham, a No. Cade Cunningham was Oklahoma State's No. 1 NBA draft pick. Oklahoma State finished 21-9 and earned a 4-seed finish in the NCAA tournament last season.
This penalty is a result of the FBI's 2017 investigation into college basketball corruption. Oklahoma State was cited for a Level 1 violation in the case of Lamont Evans, an associate head coach at Oklahoma State. He accepted $18,150 to $22,000 in bribes from players from Oklahoma State, South Carolina and South Carolina. Evans was sentenced to three months imprisonment in June 2019.
The NCAA also gave Evans a 10-year penalty for showing cause.
The school stated that it was shocked by the harshness of the penalties and strongly disagreed with them when they were imposed the original ban. "The penalties are not in line with the facts, and they are unfair and unjust. OSU and the NCAA both agreed that Lamont Evans acted in isolation and for his personal gain. OSU fired Evans on September 28, 2017, 72 hours after learning of the allegations against him.
"The NCAA also agreed with OSU that OSU didn't benefit from recruiting, committed a recruiting violation or played an ineligible football player and displayed no lack of institutional control. The report shows that OSU cooperated with the NCAA throughout the two-year process.
Due to FBI investigations, Oklahoma State was the first school to receive a NCAA postseason ban. Arizona and Auburn, both of which had assistant coaches plead guilty to the same, imposed postseason bans this season. USC did not receive a ban in the postseason.
Evans was also found guilty in South Carolina. However, Evans was not banned after the NCAA handed down its penalties on February 2020.
CBS Sports first reported the news.
