No. 18 Dana Altman

Oregon coach Dana Altman spoke to the media in May, in his first public comments since rape allegations came to light against three of his now former Oregon Ducks basketball players.

(Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian)

A wide-ranging report from KATU suggests that University of Oregon officials may have delayed the expulsion of three men's basketball players in order to maintain the team's academic rating, avoiding NCAA sanctions and assuring bonuses to be paid to coaches and officials.

In a three-month long investigation that culminated with a written story and a 17-minute aired segment, KATU reports that Oregon waited to expel Damyean Dotson, Dominic Artis and Brandon Austin from the men's basketball program until June 23 because doing so earlier would have crippled the team's Academic Progress Rate.

The Ducks APR, which measures a team's academic performance, had dipped to 918 out of 1,000 – the lowest in the Pac-12. Had the three players been expelled earlier – they were accused of an alleged sexual assault that took place on March 8 – the APR would have taken a hit and the team could have faced potential sanctions, KATU reports.

Contracts state that head coach Dana Altman ($20,000), his assistants ($6,000) and athletic director Rob Mullens ($40,000) are paid bonuses for maintaining an APR minimum.

The three players were accused of sexual assault of a University of Oregon freshman on March 9, hours after the Ducks ended their regular season by beating No. 3 Arizona at home. In mid-April, five weeks after the alleged incident, the Lane County District Attorney declined to file charges against any of the three, but all were dismissed from the team and later barred from campus for conduct "unbecoming of an Oregon student-athlete."

Artis and Dotson continued to play for the Ducks throughout the NCAA Tournament – Austin wasn't eligible due to his transfer from Providence -- after Oregon claimed the Eugene Police Department told them not to interfere with the investigation – a claim the department has refuted.

KATU spoke with John Infante, a nationally recognized APR expert, who said the university benefitted from keeping the players in school and on the team.

"It would be helpful for their APR for them to remain in school and finish their coursework and then be dismissed or suspended at the end of the term," Infante said.

KATU reports Dotson and Artis were considered "retained" for the spring term on April 28, thus receiving APR points. It was the same day then-president Michael Gottfredson was briefed on the police report.

"The dates where this occurred line up with significant APR dates and with avoiding those worst-case scenarios," Infante told KATU.

Altman dismissed the players from the team on May 5. They were expelled on June 23.

The university hasn't returned the request left for comment by The Oregonian.

Austin and Artis have both been admitted to junior colleges.

-- Tyson Alger | @tysonalger