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| T. boone pickens |
Tuesday’s Part One convincingly lays out a history of player payments made by coaches and boosters via performance-based bonuses and fake jobs. Part Two, published Wednesday morning, suggests that players had coursework done for them, were provided exam answers and had received passing grades despite not doing the requisite work.
Though Sports Illustrated’s story appears very well reported, it has been the target of some criticism. ESPN ‘s Jason Whitlock has taken umbrage with the involvement of co-author Thayer Evans, going so far as to accuse him of being “a hack that can’t write.” SB Nation’s Spencer Hall has raised a larger question: “in whose service is this, and to what end?” In other words, does the SI report highlight repercussions of the NCAA’s archaic bylaws, or simply abhor their violation?
The latest to take issue with the report is billionaire T. Boone Pickens. The Oklahoma State alum, an oil magnate worth $1.2 billion, issued a statement on Tuesday that begins: “There’s one word I have for the Sports Illustrated reporting on Oklahoma State University: Disappointing.”
Pickens goes on to argue that, while Oklahoma State’s football team may have made mistakes in the past, the SI report fails to characterize the program of today. His statement reads in part:
There have been wholesale changes at the school in recent years in leadership and facilities. During that time, I have given more than $500 million to OSU, for athletics and academics. Have I gotten my money’s worth? You bet. We have a football program that has a commitment to principled sportsmanship.
The statement, obtained by USA Today, can be seen in full below.
It’s easy to understand why Pickens would quickly come to his alma mater’s defense. He has contributed millions to the school, including at least $250 million that were earmarked for the athletics department. The Cowboys play in a stadium named after him, and he was also the brains behind the school’s “Gift of a Lifetime” fundraiser, a crafty-but-failed life insurance gamble.
Does Pickens have a point? Maybe. The majority of SI’s named sources haven’t played at the school in nearly a decade, if not longer, and many characterize the team’s culture under previous head coach Les Miles. Though, to be fair, Pickens’ claim about recent “wholesale changes” in leadership seems to ignore the fact that Mike Gundy has been the head football coach since 2005. Tuesday’s report suggests that players were paid under Gundy’s watch, and Wednesday’s report also specifically alleges that academic improprieties worsened after he took over for Miles.
But even if Pickens is wrong about the program changing, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the team is guilty of something evil. As SI’s writers already acknowledge, the money paid to players mostly went toward life necessities.
The next two sections of SI’s report will be released on Thursday and Friday. They will allege that football players smoked pot and had sex, neither of which seems like an outrageous or damning activity for any college student, let alone a campus superstar.
