SMU’s Frazier says he was unaware someone was taking class as him

Keith Frazier, the SMU guard and key figure in an NCAA investigation into the Mustangs’ men’s basketball program, told ESPN on Thursday he knows what observers might think. They will assume he knew that a former employee of the SMU basketball program was taking a course for him so he could be eligible. Frazier says that wasn’t the case.tmpplchld “I didn’t even know what was going on,” Frazier said. “I didn’t know she was doing that class for me. I wasn’t aware of that. I know it looks that way on the outside looking in, but I didn’t know.”tmpplchld Frazier and his SMU teammates have been handed a postseason ban among other punishments that include a loss of scholarships, a nine-game suspension for coach Larry Brown, recruiting restrictions and the forfeiture of some previous wins.tmpplchld Frazier can understand why those he plays with would be frustrated with him.tmpplchld “The team has to go through all this and I’m in the middle of it,” Frazier said. “I feel for those guys. They had nothing to do with this. I feel for them and how it’s affecting their lives.”tmpplchld Frazier said he tweeted teammates Tuesday to connect and discuss the issue.tmpplchld “I wanted to let them know how I felt,” Frazier said. “How bad I felt about all of this. Not all of them showed up, but most of them did. I just told them that hopefully we can all move forward.”tmpplchld “I’ve dealt with so much adversity that I’m numb to the pain,” he added. “The only pain I feel is to my teammates.”tmpplchld tmpplchld But was Frazier unaware that the former administrative assistant took the course for him or unaware of anything? He knew the course existed based on this part of the NCAA’s report on SMU infractions (names have been inserted for clarity in parenthesis).tmpplchld ___tmpplchld NCAA REPORTtmpplchld A former assistant men’s basketball coach (Ulric Maligi) encouraged a student-athlete (Keith Frazier) to enroll in an online course to meet NCAA initial eligibility standards and be admitted to the university. After he enrolled in the course, a former men’s basketball administrative assistant (Katie Cowan) obtained the student’s username and password then completed all of his coursework.tmpplchld The student-athlete received fraudulent credit for the course and, as a result, competed while ineligible during his freshman season.tmpplchld When speaking with NCAA enforcement staff, the student-athlete admitted that the former administrative assistant asked him to provide false information during the interview. In its decision, the panel noted it is very troubled that academic advising was administered by athletics staff.tmpplchld The former administrative assistant violated NCAA’s ethical conduct rules when she provided false information during her interviews and attempted to influence a student-athlete to provide false information during his interview.tmpplchld The administrative assistant initially cooperated with the investigation, but later ended the second interview early, refused to provide documentation and denied additional interview requests.tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 The Dallas Morning Newstmpplchld Visit The Dallas Morning News at www.dallasnews.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld