Southern Methodist University (SMU) will appeal certain parts of the NCAA's sanctions against its men's basketball team, but not those concerning Larry Brown or the Mustangs' postseason ban.
According to ESPN, SMU's appeal only concerns the reduction of nine men's basketball scholarships over the next three years and the wins from the 2013-2014 season the NCAA vacated due to an ineligible player playing for the team. SMU is not appealing Brown's nine-game suspension or the team's postseason ban this upcoming season.
SMU is also including the men's golf postseason ban on the team and individual players in its appeal.
"SMU is the first institution to receive findings and sanctions under the NCAA's new penalty structure, making it difficult to draw comparisons with previous infractions cases for both the University and the Committee on Infractions. As expected, any new system will generate areas of ambiguity that require correction or clarification," the school said in a statement. "Under this new structure, we expected that the Committee on Infractions might potentially impose additional penalties on top of our self-imposed sanctions, but we also anticipated a greater acknowledgment of our proactive measures as mitigating factors moderating any additional penalties imposed.
"Therefore, SMU has decided to appeal several sanctions imposed by the Committee on Infractions and will file our intent to appeal within the mandated 15-day time period, by October 14."
Brown has since expressed regret over what triggered his suspension, a "failure to monitor," as the NCAA terms it, but advocated for the postseason ban to be lifted in order to not punish players who did nothing wrong.
"The fact that NCAA violations happened on my watch is something that I regret and take very seriously. I am committed to winning with integrity and we must - and we will - do better," Brown said in the school's statement. "While the decision to not appeal our post-season ban was made in the best interests of the program, I am truly disappointed for our student-athletes who are the most impacted by the penalties and who had nothing to do with the infractions. Our young men need your support now more than ever, and I am confident that the Mustang family will respond."
