Colorado Football Not Being Probed by NCAA, Officials Say

Football coach Bill McCartney says that during his eight seasons at the University of Colorado there have been several violations of NCAA rules but that all were reported to the NCAA.

He denied a report by syndicated sports analyst Danny Sheridan that an NCAA investigation of the team is under way.

CU President Gordon Gee also denied there is an investigation.

“We have received no notification,” Gee said. “You can tell Danny Sheridan he’s full of hot air. . . . I don’t know who the guy is, but he’d better apologize. As far as I’m concerned, this goes beyond the bounds of the First Amendment,” which protects freedom of speech, he said.

“The NCAA looks at the University of Colorado as a bunch of Boy Scouts and always has,” he said.

McCartney said calling the team Boy Scouts may be going a bit too far.

“I won’t say we haven’t had minor rules violations,” he said. “It’s not something I’ll publicly disclose. But nothing flagrant has happened here. All kinds of things happen during the course of a year that we routinely respond to and report (to the NCAA). I think about five things have come up that we have been remiss on or not handled appropriately.

“I’m not going to say carte blanche that in eight years we haven’t had a minor violation here or there.”

Sheridan, meanwhile, said he believes his report “to be true and correct. . . . It doesn’t mean (CU) has done anything wrong. It just means the NCAA is starting an investigation. However, I don’t think it’s a major one. Most of these end with no probable cause.”

David Berst, assistant executive director of enforcement for the NCAA, said he is not aware of the allegations and could not confirm or deny any allegations.