Professor- Some issues resolved in investigation

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The NCAA and the University of Missouri were able to "lay some issues to rest" in their investigation into the school's men's basketball program, but some other matters remain unresolved, said the professor leading university's probe.

By the end of April, the NCAA and Missouri may have "a very, very short list" of outstanding issues in the investigation, Michael Devaney, an electrical engineering professor at the Columbia campus, told the Columbia Daily Tribune on Friday.

Devaney declined to specify which issues he felt had been resolved and which were outstanding.

Former Missouri point guard Ricky Clemons has said he and other players were paid, and Clemons' former girlfriend has said he received improper academic help. Clemons' coaches have said they had no knowledge of improper academic help and have also denied giving Clemons or other players money.

"Let me say that the list is shorter and that we made great progress in solidifying the items of concern and laying to rest other items," Devaney said.

Devaney also said he couldn't say much more about the investigation. But Missouri officials have said they are cooperating fully with the NCAA, which declined comment, as it routinely does while investigations are ongoing.

Devaney was named last year by university President Elson Floyd to lead the internal investigation, which Floyd ordered when the academic allegations surfaced. Floyd previously said he felt better about the academic allegations, without being specific, after a meeting with NCAA officials.

Asked Thursday about the investigation's timetable, Floyd told the Tribune, "It's in the NCAA's hands now." He declined to elaborate.

Devaney said Friday, "We were able to identify what we felt were some follow-up items that would enable us to determine the disposition of things that are still outstanding."

He added the meeting included "reviewing a number of issues, examining the evidence, hearing one another's perspective on the evidence."

Devaney is a former president of the faculty council on the Columbia campus. He said he was accompanied to the NCAA meetings in Indianapolis by Bill Arnet, an attorney for the university system; Sarah Reesman, an associate athletic director; Mitzi Clayton, the athletic program's director of NCAA compliance; Clayton's assistant Mary Austin; and Carl Settergren, a forestry professor and faculty representative for NCAA athletic programs.