The NCAA examination of potential rules violations by the San Diego State men’s basketball program has ended without any finding of violations, the school announced Tuesday morning.

A university release said SDSU was notified by the NCAA director of enforcement that “based on available information, the allegations were not substantiated and it does not appear there is a need for further inquiry ... The enforcement staff appreciates the institution’s cooperation related to this matter.”

Technically, it was never a formal investigation under the NCAA’s definition because the university never received a letter of inquiry that allows enforcement officers to visit campus and interview coaches, players, staff or other personnel. And normally, these sorts of preliminary probes are never divulged publicly unless they elevate to a formal investigation; sometimes the schools themselves don’t know they’re going on.

The difference in this case is CBS Sports reported Sept. 15 that SDSU’s basketball program is “under investigation by the NCAA for potential rules violations (that) include possible improper benefits to prospects.” That prompted SDSU to issue a statement that “members of the NCAA staff confirmed for the university that they have not commenced a formal investigation.”


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“The unfortunate thing is,” coach Steve Fisher said before practice Tuesday, “allegations can be made by anybody at any time at any place. The NCAA has an obligation to look into these. We were never under a formal investigation. The NCAA never set foot on campus. But when the article came out, it was: Will they get the death penalty?

“Usually these kinds of allegations, when somebody calls and says we think this is going on, never see the light of day until there is an investigation. You don’t know about it. This one, before we knew about it you (in the media) knew about it. That’s the disappointing thing, that it got out there. Because I’m sure as we speak, there are probably a dozen or so, if not more, just like we had that were there and will go away, and none of us will ever know they were there.”

Several sources told the Union-Tribune that SDSU retained attorney Kelleigh Fagan, who worked in the NCAA’s enforcement division and now specializes in NCAA-related cases for a law firm in the Indianapolis area. Fagan served as the liaison between the school and NCAA, filing a report in December that responded to allegations of rules violations.


The NCAA agreed the allegations were unsubstantiated and recently sent a letter closing the case, the sources confirmed.

The details of the preliminary probe have not been disclosed, and may never be. But the Union-Tribune learned that part of Fagan’s report to the NCAA focused on an investigation commissioned by SDSU in late 2014 that originated from allegations of academic impropriety made – and later changed – by Ruth Patterson, who married Aztecs assistant coach Justin Hutson in 2011 and is now finalizing a divorce.

What isn’t known is whether Patterson was the source for CBS Sports or the NCAA’s examination into certain aspects of SDSU’s basketball program. Reached by the Union-Tribune, Patterson initially began answering questions and then declined comment.

“I’m going through a divorce,” Patterson said. “I have nothing to say.”


Hutson, like everyone else at SDSU, has declined comment on the matter since September. Schools are precluded from discussing the specifics of any NCAA enforcement activity, preliminary or otherwise. And even Tuesday, after announcing the NCAA had cleared them, Fisher spoke only in generalities and did not disclose details of the case.

But several sources with access to the university-commissioned report on Patterson’s allegations have provided a comprehensive account of its findings that was independently confirmed by the Union-Tribune:

In 2009, the SDSU athletic department reviewed internal allegations that former Aztecs forward Billy White received improper academic assistance but determined there wasn’t enough proof that wrongdoing had occurred.

In December 2011, a few weeks after they separated, Hutson received an email from Patterson that alleged she had written class papers for White in 2008. Attached to the email was a paper for a Rhetoric & Writing Studies class.


The following day, Hutson informed SDSU athletic department officials about the email and the attached paper, claiming Patterson may have occasionally proof-read papers for students but insisted she never composed them. White, who is playing basketball in Canada and was unavailable for comment, denied the allegations at the time as well.

Later that month, SDSU commissioned an outside investigation by Bond, Schoeneck King, a law firm based in Overland Park, Kan., that also specializes in NCAA enforcement issues. The subsequent 11-page report concluded there was not “sufficient credible and persuasive evidence” that Hutson had Patterson write the paper for White while noting it was inappropriate (but not necessarily an academic violation) for her proof-read it.

Patterson’s reliability as a source was questioned because she changed her story in a signed statement forwarded by her attorney, an email sent directly to Hutson and in a later interview with Bond, Schoeneck & King. On all three occasions, she said she only proof-read a single paper for White, which was why she had it in her possession, and made the accusations because she was upset over the impending divorce.

The Union-Tribune requested a copy of the Bond, Schoeneck & King report from SDSU under the California Public Records Act (PRA). The university did not provide it, stating in an email: “We recognize that there have been recent media reports regarding alleged investigations of rules violations concerning the men’s basketball program. We cannot, however, comment or provide documents relating to any matter that may be pending per the deliberative process exception to the PRA.”


While the sources said the “BSK” report was included in the material sent to the NCAA, it is not known what else, if anything, was under scrutiny or who the NCAA might have interviewed. No letter of inquiry was sent to SDSU, and no enforcement officers came to campus.

The CBS Sports story about the NCAA “investigation” came at the height of the basketball recruiting season, when top prospects orally commit to schools and then sign national letters of intent in early November. A few weeks earlier, SDSU had received a commitment from four-star forward Jalen McDaniels from the Seattle area; he later signed a letter of intent.

“I just thought it came out of nowhere,” McDaniels said of the NCAA allegations. “I don’t know what they could have done. I figured somebody must be mad about their success and getting high-level players. I never heard any bad things about them recruiting or anything like that. I never had any concerns.”

However, SDSU landed no one else from the high school class of 2016 despite having two more scholarships available for next season. Several players believed to be leaning toward the Aztecs ultimately chose other schools, including Michael Cage Jr. (Oregon), Jonah Mathews (USC) and Brendan Bailey (Marquette).


“It had an impact on recruiting,” Fisher said, although he wouldn’t specify how much. “For that, I’m disappointed ... But we’ll (continue to) recruit. We’ll be able to get good players.”

Julie Roe Lach, a former director of NCAA enforcement who now is deputy commissioner of the Horizon League, said there’s a reason preliminary probes are kept quiet. “Far less than half,” Lach said, ever elevate to a formal investigation, and the NCAA enforcement division is sensitive to prematurely and unfairly casting its shadow over a school in case nothing materializes.

“I do sympathize with schools that find themselves under that spotlight, so to speak, especially when it may turn out ultimately that wasn’t a fair spotlight to shine on them,” Lach told the Union-Tribune in September. “It’s not just the schools, it’s the student-athletes and the programs. People can jump to conclusions based on a premise that’s not accurate or not fair.”

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the SDSU basketball program has gone to the doctor for a battery of tests and exited with a clean bill of health.


“Rarely do you have someone look at you and say you’ve not done anything wrong,” Fisher said. “And we’ve not done anything wrong. I believe in my staff and myself. We abide by the rules, respect the rules, and now that we’ve got it out hopefully we can move on.”