MSU: Miles Bridges cleared by NCAA to play

Michigan State sophomore Miles Bridges has been cleared to play Sunday when the Spartans close out the regular season at 1 p.m. at Wisconsin.

Bridges’ name came up in an FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball. In a report released by Yahoo Sports on Friday, documents showed that Bridges’ mother, Cynthia, received roughly $470 from Christian Dawkins, an associate of former NBA agent Andy Miller. Documents showed she was given a $400 loan, and Dawkins spent $70 on a lunch with Bridges' parents.

With questions swirling about whether Bridges would continue to play, Michigan State reached out to the NCAA, and interim athletic director Bill Beekman said on Saturday that Bridges has been cleared.

“After learning of the allegations in yesterday’s Yahoo! Sports article, our compliance office conducted a thorough internal review,” Beekman said in the statement. “Michigan State presented its findings to the NCAA, and Miles Bridges has been cleared for competition moving forward, beginning Sunday at Wisconsin.”

More: MSU assistant Stephens: Report alleging NCAA violations 'false'

Bridges, who announced in April he was returning for his sophomore season despite being a likely No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, is leading the second-ranked Spartans (27-3, 15-2 Big Ten) in scoring at 17.1 points a game.

In addition to Yahoo’s early report on Friday about the benefit allegedly given to his mother, Yahoo later Friday released another report that showed Bridges was one of Dawkins’ primary targets in the summer of 2016.

“Documents indicate that Dawkins spent considerable time in contact with the Bridges family and with Spartans assistant coach Dwayne Stephens,” the Yahoo report said. It added that Dawkins said in emails that he planned to be in touch with Cynthia Bridges and on July 27, 2016, Dawkins emailed Miller about a “late night” meeting arranged with Miles Bridges.

There was no indication in the report any such meeting took place.