Kendal Briles Cleared of Alleged Recruiting Violations

Ian McCaw released a statement this afternoon stating that the NCAA closed the investigation of Kendal Briles' alleged recruiting violations. Multiple sources, including David Smoak and Pete Thamel of SI.com broke the story, running the following statement by Ian McCaw:

Following a thorough and joint review of the allegation that a Baylor assistant coach had impermissible contact with a football prospect, the NCAA has informed us that this matter is closed. The facts did not support that any violation occurred.

SI originally broke the story that Kendal Briles was under investigation for alleged impermissible contact with a football recruit. Thayer Evans, the SI "reporter" that penned the series of articles on alleged corruption and violations involving the Oklahoma State football program last fall, was the one who authored the original story alleging violations committed by Briles the younger. Given Evans' track record in this area, it comes as a surprise to few that Briles and Baylor have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

The SI.com story has additional quotes from McCaw's statement. Reading between the lines of McCaw's statement, it would appear that Baylor is not at all happy with the allegations levied against the program. Given that they have to treat any alleged recruiting violation with utmost seriousness and devote time, resources and effort into investigating any allegation, it isn't surprising that the Baylor athletic administration wouldn't be happy with these sorts of allegations being levied against them.

Regardless, the news is highly welcome and the speed with which the investigation was conducted and concluded can only be an indication of the baseless nature of the accusations levied.