CBS NEWS: The NCAA attempted to bluff Penn State into accepting severe sanctions in 2012 due to the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal, according to internal emails recently released in a court case.
The internal emails between high-ranking NCAA officials, first reported by Onward State, show that some people in the NCAA office believed the association did not have jurisdiction to punish Penn State. The university was hit with unprecedented penalties without going through the normal NCAA enforcement process. The NCAA recently reversed its sanctions that would have kept Penn State out of the postseason and limited it to 65 scholarships until 2017.
In a July 14, 2012 email to then-NCAA director of enforcement Julie Roe Lach, NCAA vice president of academic and membership affairs Kevin Lennon wrote of the potential Penn State penalties, “I know we are banking on the fact school is so embarrassed they will do anything, but I am not sure about that, and no confidence conference or other members will agree to any of that. This will force the jurisdictional issue that we really don’t have a great answer to that one.” … (more)
