NCAA joins OVC in investigation

~ NCAA investigators are expected to be on campus next week.

The NCAA has joined with the Ohio Valley Conference for the investigation of violations by the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball program, university president Dr. Ken Dobbins said Monday.

The governing body of college athletics already had received information about Southeast's possible violations when the OVC commissioner's office contacted the NCAA about Southeast's request in late January for an investigation, prompting it to join the OVC staff for a joint review, Dobbins said.

Investigators are expected to be on campus next week, around the same time the Southeast women's basketball team finds out where it will be placed for its first appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament.

Southeast defeated Tennessee Tech 71-50 on Saturday in the championship game of the OVC tournament in Nashville, Tenn. The Redhawks earned their first conference championship since moving to Division I and the OVC before the 1991-92 school year. The school has planned a celebration for 7 p.m. Monday at the Show Me Center to view the NCAA selections, when the Redhawks will find out who they play and where in the tournament's opening round.

Contract situation in air

It is not known when Southeast will find out the result of the investigation, but Southeast Missouri State athletic director Don Kaverman believes university officials may have enough information by April 30 to make a determination on coach B.J. Smith's future with the program.

His contract ends on that date.

"Hopefully, we have a good sense of where this is going at that point," Kaverman said Monday.

In addition to this historic 22-8 season, Southeast won 22 games last year for its best Division I season through that point. Over Smith's four seasons, Southeast is 79-40 overall and 51-17 in the OVC. Both marks are the best in the conference over that span.

The Redhawks started this season 6-7 overall and 3-3 in the OVC before winning 13 of 14 games to tie for the regular-season title. They then won three more to win the conference championship. They accomplished much of that with the cloud of an investigation hanging over their program.

Dobbins asked OVC commissioner Dr. John Steinbrecher in late January to conduct the investigation, which was first reported in the Southeast Missourian on Feb. 11.

"I've only been involved in an investigation with the Shumate situation, which we initiated," said Dobbins, who was the university's executive vice president and chief financial officer in 1997 when former men's basketball coach Ron Shumate was fired and that program received probation. "That's why we turned it over to John for independent review."

The commissioner's office contacted the NCAA, which Dobbins said already was in the preliminary stages of a separate process based on information provided by an outside source.

The NCAA joined the investigation with the OVC in February. The university did not receive a letter of inquiry from the NCAA. Dobbins said that may be because the OVC staff initiated the contact, but he was not certain. Steinbrecher could not be reached for comment Monday.

Kaverman said he briefed the coaching staff on guidelines for the investigation on Feb. 9 in Morehead, Ky., where the team posted its ninth straight game in a 12-game winning streak.

The Southeast Missourian learned in Feb. 15 of possible involvement by the NCAA, however the NCAA said it does not comment on such matters and an OVC spokeswoman said a few days later, "The commissioner's office is not going to comment until it's complete."

Multiple sources said the NCAA has begun the investigation by speaking with parties off campus. University officials believed that may be the case but did not know for certain.

Dobbins said he has been informed investigators are "tentatively scheduled to be on campus next week."