James Franklin has Penn State back on the right track. (Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports)
The NCAA Executive Committee lifted Penn State’s postseason ban, effective immediately, and restored the football program’s full complement of 85 scholarships beginning in 2015-16.
The postseason ban was part of penalties levied against the program following the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal, and was originally slated to last through the 2015 season.
The NCAA pointed to Penn State’s “significant progress toward ensuring its athletics department functions with integrity,” in making the announcement Monday.
The committee followed the recommendations released by Senator George Mitchell, the university’s athletics oversight monitor. Mitchell added that if the progress continues at the end of his 2015 report, his oversight may end early than 2017, the date set forth in the original agreement between the NCAA and Penn State.
“Penn State’s commitment to the integrity of its athletics department and its progress toward meeting the requirements of the Consent Decree are clear,” said Northern Arizona President Rita Hartung Cheng, who chaired Monday’s Executive Committee meeting. “We thank Senator Mitchell for his meticulous and exhaustive work over the past two years. Mitchell’s efforts and the dedication of Penn State officials made today’s decisions possible.”
In his second annual report, Mitchell said the initiatives taken by the university in the first year “have begun to take root as a result of Penn State’s continuing focus on these reforms.”
“We have continued to enjoy unfettered access to information and candid and prompt communication with personnel at every level of the University. Where we have identified concerns, they have been of the type that occurs within every large educational institution, they have not been chronic, and they have been quickly addressed. Moreover, Penn State has maintained its consistent performance over the past 12 months during which there have been changes in senior leadership, including the hiring of
Dr. Eric Barron as president and Sandy Barbour as athletic director, and amidst continued public scrutiny and debate about the Consent Decree and its impact.”
