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VIDEO: SMU responds to today’s NCAA sanctions

SMU has released a statement in response to the sanctions that the NCAA handed down on Tuesday morning.

The Mustang basketball program has been banned from the 2016 postseason and will have to deal with recruiting restrictions and scholarship reductions in the coming seasons.

“While we accept responsibility for violations, the individuals responsible for the infractions have been held accountable both by the University and by the Committee on Infractions,” the school said in a statement. “To punish the student-athletes in the men’s basketball [program] by prohibiting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in the postseason is simply wrong. It is not what our system of governance should be about and we are considering our response.”

The sanctions stem from violations involving former McDonald’s All-American Keith Frazier. Frazier enrolled in an online summer school class in order to get his GPA high enough to be eligible as a freshman, but an administrative assistant in the SMU basketball office did all the coursework for Frazier.

Brown, who was suspended for nine games, responded as well.

“Leading the SMU men’s basketball program is an honor and a responsibility that I take very seriously,” Brown said in a statement released by the school. “That duty includes helping our young men develop into people of character and to ensuring that we pursue our goals with integrity. I am saddened and disappointed that the Committee on Infractions believes that I did not fully fulfill my duties and I will consider my options to challenge that assertion in the coming days. I truly believe that our program has dedicated itself unwaveringly to the ideals of academic integrity and NCAA compliance. Still, there was a violation in our program and I take responsibility for that and offer my sincere apologies to the University community.”