Southern Methodist University officials spent 4 1/2...

Southern Methodist University officials spent 4 1/2 hours meeting with the NCAA infractions committee at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.

“The point of this is to try and identify the problems and discuss our penalties and propose what can be done for the future,” said Lonnie Kliever, SMU’s faculty representative to the NCAA.

William Stallcup, interim president of SMU, said: “We hope that from the beginning we got our point across, and we had every indication of that.”

Earlier this week, Stallcup said he would ask the six-member panel to let the school levy its own sanctions. He said, however, that he would neither appeal nor contest any rulings or findings by the committee, which is expected to decide the school’s punishment within 10 days. The committee could impose the so-called “death penalty.”.

SMU was called before the committee after news reports surfaced in November that the football program again violated NCAA regulations. It was first reported that former SMU player David Stanley was given $25,000 to sign with the Mustangs. Two days later, it was reported that SMU player Albert Reese was living rent-free in an apartment provided by a school booster.

The school’s then-president, L. Donald Shields, resigned soon after the scandal, citing health reasons. Athletic Director Bob Hitch and football Coach Bobby Collins later quit for unspecified reasons.