Probation for Purdue women's hoops

Indianapolis -- The women's basketball team at Purdue University in Indiana has been put on two years NCAA probation for rules violations.

The NCAA cited three major violations, The (Lafayette, Ind.) Journal and Courier reported Thursday.

In a release, the athletics governing agency said the violations involved academic fraud and impermissible telephone calls connected to former assistant coach Katrina Merriweather and student-athlete Cherelle George.
A total of 105 impermissible telephone calls were made to two prospective student-athletes.

The NCAA said both the former assistant and George provided false and misleading information to the university's athletics compliance staff in an attempt to conceal academic fraud violations, but a 10-member committee determined Merriweather wrote a term paper for George, and George had full knowledge of fraud.

"I still deny she wrote the paper," George told the newspaper.

The probation was imposed despite the school's self-imposed penalties and corrective actions.

The program will lose three scholarships.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.