The Oregon State Beavers football program was handed an NCAA secondary violation Friday for the self-reported recruiting packets sent to a University of Hawaii football player this spring.

The NCAA's punishment bars Oregon State from recruiting the unnamed player in question should he elect to transfer.

Secondary violations in college football recruiting are frequent and viewed as minor. While the Beavers committed a violation, the NCAA's ruling appears to clear them of any intentional wrongdoing in the matter.

"We initiated a self-report to the NCAA once we learned the inadvertent mistake was made," Oregon State associate athletic director of communications Steve Fenk said. "We admit and understand that what we did was an unintentional violation. The punishment fits. We didn't try to do anything covert. It was an honest mistake that we took responsibility for."

In early May, Hawaii football coach Nick Rolovich posted a tweet displaying Oregon State recruiting packets addressed to current players on his roster.

"My apologies for our players not being able to attend your Spring game," he wrote. "Ours was the same day, bad timing. Quick question, in the 203 years of coaching, none of you realized you couldn't actively recruiting another school's players? Sent to campus? #leakydam #sloppybeavers."

Upon seeing the tweet, Oregon State immediately self-reported the infraction to the NCAA, and released a statement.

"Oregon State Athletics and head coach Jonathan Smith became aware of unintentional mailings directed at a University of Hawai'i student-athlete this morning," the statement said. "We are committed to following NCAA rules and are looking into this matter fully."

Oregon State opens its season September 1 at Ohio State University.

-- Andrew Nemec

anemec@oregonian.com

@AndrewNemec