South Carolina AD Ray Tanner responds to federal investigation into college basketball
Though South Carolina was not named or implicated in the ongoing federal investigation into NCAA basketball, a former assistant coach — Lamont Evans — was charged in the case.
Evans was working for Oklahoma State at the time of his alleged wrongdoing, though, so the Gamecocks haven’t faced any discipline as of yet.
However, that didn’t stop AD Ray Tanner from taking the investigation as a chance to review all of South Carolina’s athletics.
On Friday, he reiterated that the Gamecocks are not under federal investigation, but added that the school will hire a third party to look into the program:
Statement from Ray Tanner: South Carolina is not under federal investigation and no current employee is, either.
— David Cloninger (@DCPandC) September 29, 2017
USC will hire an independent third party that specializes in NCAA matters to review issues tied to the FBI probe.
— David Cloninger (@DCPandC) September 29, 2017
This review will be coordinated with the NCAA and the Dept of Justice.
— David Cloninger (@DCPandC) September 29, 2017
Whether or not the investigation turns anything up remains to be seen, but Tanner and the Gamecocks are at least taking a proactive approach in the wake of one of the biggest scandals in college basketball history.
In the coming days and weeks, we may see other SEC schools take similar courses of action.