Dan Wolken

USA TODAY Sports

The NCAA announced Monday it is restoring Penn State's postseason eligibility immediately and allowing it to return to a full 85 scholarship roster in 2015, citing "progress toward ensuring its athletics department functions with integrity."

Essentially, the decision by the NCAA Executive Committee wipes away the most significant competitive sanctions levied against Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.

"This is welcome news for the University community, particularly for our current and future student-athletes," Penn State President Eric Barron said in a statement from the university.

The postseason ban was originally scheduled to go through the 2015 season. Last September, the NCAA softened the scholarship limits in the wake of a progress report compiled by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, increasing the caps from 65 to 75 this season. The NCAA did not agree to lift the other sanctions at that time.

In his year two progress report published Monday, Mitchell wrote, "Through the second year of the Consent Decree, Penn State has not wavered in this commitment. The initiatives undertaken in the first year have begun to take root as a result of Penn State's continuing focus on these reforms."



The Big Ten Conference announced that it has agreed to restore Penn State's eligibility to compete in this season's conference championship game.

Commissioner Jim Delany told USA TODAY Sports, "I don't think this is an assessment of the original penalty as much as it's an assessment of the desire to change program's policies, make adjustments to conduct and behavior. There's a belief that a lot of that has occurred, and therefore the penalty should be modified.

"The financial penalty that we imposed is not going to change, but we needed to really change the access to the championship game if they're eligible for postseason play. They could win their division. If they're eligible for the postseason, they should certainly be eligible for our championship."

Delany added, "Keep in mind that there are other penalties that are still in effect — the Big Ten's penalty on bowl receipts is still in effect. That means that money is intended to go to organizations in our communities that serve the needs and health of youths. The NCAA $60 million penalty is still in litigation. Our penalty, which is probationary, is I think two more years. Some of the penalties have been modified; others have not."

Dan Beebe, former commissioner of the Big 12 and Ohio Valley conferences and the NCAA's former director of enforcement told USA TODAY Sports he was glad that innocent Penn State players would no longer be penalized. "I don't know if (the NCAA's) decision is basically a recognition they might have overreached in the initial decision, or if it's an acknowledgment that Penn State has undertaken all the appropriate measures needed to make sure that they have addressed the issues that put them in the place that they were in."

Told that the NCAA announced that it was the latter, Beebe said, "If it's the latter, then I think there's a concern about decisions made by the NCAA where they have taken into account at the time of the decision the kinds of things that an institution needs to do to right its ship and then having the precedent now where the institution can come back and say, 'OK, we've put these measures in place and more, so remove our last two years' of whatever sanctions they may have received.'

"It's just like the initial decision I thought was a dangerous precedent. This decision could lead to that same one, where you have an institution that's currently under penalty and under certain prohibitions on recruiting or postseason play and they said, 'Hey, you know, we've been great so now you need to reconsider where we are and remove our further, future sanctions.' That's not something that we've been accustomed to, frankly. Nor do I think they should be."

Scott Paterno, speaking for the family of late Penn State coach Joe Paterno, issued a statement that read, "We are pleased Senator George Mitchell has recommended and the NCAA has agreed to reduce the sanctions on Penn State. This is one more step in correcting the unjust and irresponsible penalties imposed on the University. As time has proven, the sanctions were based on an incomplete and over-hyped report by Louis Freeh.

"In response to the report, which was recklessly promoted to the media as complete and accurate, the University Board of Trustees and the NCAA panicked and imposed unprecedented penalties and engaged in an active campaign to smear the reputations of numerous individuals. The sad fact is they took a terrible situation and made it worse. We have always supported a full, fair and open review of the facts. We remain committed to that effort."

Monday's development is a huge boost to first-year Penn State coach James Franklin, whose recruiting class for 2015 was already ranked among the nation's top 10.

Penn State's football team is 2-0 this season following victories against Central Florida and Akron.

"We are very appreciative of the opportunities the NCAA and Big Ten have provided with today's announcement," Franklin said in a statement from the university. "This team plays for each other. We play for Penn State, our families, the former players, our students, alumni, fans and the community. We are so proud to represent Penn State and the Big Ten Conference and are working hard to prepare for our Big Ten opener at Rutgers."

Contributing: Nicole Auerbach, Steve Berkowitz