NCAA reaches proposed settlement to restore Penn State's vacated wins
Penn State's vacated wins from 1998-2011 will be restored as part of a proposed settlement with the NCAA and Pennsylvania state officials, the NCAA announced Friday.
When Penn State was punished in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, the program was given a four-year postseason ban, had scholarships taken away, fined $60 million, forced to vacate the wins and put on five years probation.
WIth Friday's announcement, former Penn State coach Joe Paterno's win total goes back to 409 from 298. He (once again) becomes the all-time winningest coach in FBS history. The settlement stems from a lawsuit by Pennsylvania Sen. Jake Corman and state treasurer Rob McCord, who wanted the money from Penn State's fine to go to programs in Pennsylvania.
Here are the other details of the proposed settlement, which is subject to board approval from Penn State and the NCAA:
Penn State agrees to commit a total of $60 million to activities and programs for the prevention of child sexual abuse and the treatment of victims of child sexual abuse.
Penn State acknowledges the NCAA's legitimate and good faith interest and concern regarding the Jerry Sandusky matter.
Penn State and the NCAA will enter into a new Athletics Integrity Agreement that (with concurrence of the Big Ten) includes best practices with which the university is committed to comply and that provides for the university to continue to retain the services of Sen. George Mitchell and his firm to support the university's activities under the Athletics Integrity Agreement and in the areas of compliance, ethics and integrity.
Penn State's bowl ban was overturned in September and the Nittany Lions were given full scholarships for 2015. The ban's end was effective immediately, and Penn State went to the Pinstripe Bowl at the end of 2014, where it beat Boston College.
Following the lifting of the bowl ban, details about the NCAA's handling of the Penn State case emerged. Emails revealed that the NCAA tried to "bluff" Penn State into accepting the sanctions and that the sanctioning body had worked with Louis Freeh as the Freeh Report was being compiled. The Freeh Report was the investigation into Penn State's conduct throughout Jerry Sandusky's sex abuses.
Sandusky is serving life in prison.
According to Onward State, Ed Ray, who was the NCAA's Executive Committee Chairman in 2012, revealed in his testimony that he hadn't read the entire Freeh Report before Penn State was sanctioned.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
