Some Charges Valid, Missouri’s Stewart Says

Missouri’s boast of being the only Big Eight school never penalized by the NCAA appears to be in jeopardy.

Norm Stewart, Missouri’s basketball coach for 23 years, acknowledged at a news conference Monday that some of the 15 allegations made against the basketball program by the NCAA are true. The NCAA began its investigation in February of 1989.

“Where we have made mistakes which resulted in certain allegations, we will admit them,” Stewart said. “Some of the allegations, however, are not true and we will contest those before the committee.”

Missouri officials would not comment on specific allegations. However, the two most serious charges appear to be that Missouri used an agent to help recruit inner-city youths in Detroit and that a member of the athletic department “provided false and misleading information” to investigators.