From all accounts I have seen, MSU reported this in some way, shape, or form to the SEC in January. The SEC told them to gather more information and get back with the office. That in itself is mind boggling. A program is trying to self report itself for a very serious violation, and the SEC tells them to just look into it some more? Now it's July, and MSU hadn't sent whatever information the SEC requested (supposedly the SEC asked MSU to provide something showing other schools were involved, but MSU only knew of their own dealings), but all of a sudden the NCAA is calling wanting to know more about some info they received.
Again, no matter how incomplete or inconclusive the information MSU provided to the SEC was, the SEC should have been on the line with the NCAA the second MSU reported this. There should not have been a 1, 3, 5, or 7 month wait to notify the NCAA of a potential problem. I know Slive is on a mission to have a probation free SEC, but this makes the conference look much worse. The SEC put this thing in the back of a file cabinet hoping it would go away, and it turns out MSU has bigger balls apparently. They already put out a press release a few days back stating they notified the NCAA themselves.
Fact No. 1: The NCAA has had these claims in hand since last January. Newton continues to be eligible to play at Auburn. No matter how many times you read something different, if his eligibility was in question, he would not be playing. Auburn wouldn’t play him, and if Auburn wanted to play him, the SEC wouldn’t allow it.
Fact No. 2: Even after the allegations were forwarded to the SEC, Mississippi State continued to recruit Newton, and recruit him hard, up until he signed with Auburn on Dec. 31.
Fact No. 3: Newton’s recruitment came down to three schools – Auburn, Oklahoma and Mississippi State. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said he saw no problems of any kind. Auburn officials looked into his recruitment and were convinced there was no wrongdoing.
Fact No. 4: Though, according to the report, the accusations are almost a year old, neither Auburn nor Cam Newton has been accused of any wrongdoing by the NCAA.
MSU release #1:
Mississippi State University acknowledges that it contacted the Southeastern Conference office in January of 2010 regarding an issue relating to its recruitment of Cam Newton.
Shortly after the initial call, the SEC office requested specific information to include interviews with involved staff from MSU.
Due to MSU dealing with ongoing and time-consuming eligibility issues involving non-football matters in the winter and spring of 2010, the specific SEC request went unfulfilled. Some additional information was provided to the SEC during July of 2010. Once the NCAA enforcement staff became involved, Mississippi State University cooperated fully with its investigation. MSU is confident the SEC office has managed this process consistent with its established procedures and the university is committed to the conference's ongoing efforts to ensure compliance with SEC and NCAA rules.
MSU Release #2:
"During the recruitment of a football prospective student-athlete, Mississippi State was approached with an offer to provide an extra benefit. This offer was refused.
"MSU alerted the Southeastern Conference about the offer. MSU did not have any specific incriminating information about any other school, and thus could not provide any.
"As Commissioner Slive mentioned today, the SEC is not an investigative body. MSU has cooperated fully and completely with the NCAA from the time it began asking for our assistance, and looks forward to providing any and all help in this ongoing investigation."