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SMU AD backs decision to accept ban after players’ statement

NCAA SMU Basketball

SMU head coach Larry Brown speaks to the media during a news conference before practice at the NCAA college basketball tournament in Louisville, Ky., Wednesday, March 18, 2015. SMU plays UCLA in the second round on Thursday. (AP Photo/David Stephenson)

AP

DALLAS (AP) SMU athletic director Rick Hart has reiterated the school’s decision to accept a one-year postseason ban in men’s basketball after players released a statement on their own expressing their disappointment over NCAA sanctions.

Hart said Wednesday that he shares that disappointment but that the severity of violations acknowledged by SMU mandates a minimum one-year postseason ban.

In a statement to CBS Sports, the players on Wednesday expressed their “profound disappointment” with the sanctions and claimed the NCAA “exercised questionable judgment in punishing innocent people.” They also asked the NCAA to reconsider the sanctions.
MORE: SMU’s postseason ban is morally wrong

SMU last week announced that it would not appeal the postseason ban or the nine-game suspension for coach Larry Brown. The NCAA ruled that a former men’s basketball administrative assistant completed the online course work for a student to meet NCAA initial eligibility to be admitted to the university.