SMU Will Not Appeal Postseason Ban, Larry Brown Suspension

Less than two weeks after the NCAA hit the SMU Mustangs men's basketball program with a postseason ban and suspended head coach Larry Brown for 30 percent of the team's games in 2015-16, the program has decided to accept some of the punishment. 

Per ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman, the school announced that it will not appeal its 2016 postseason ban or Brown's suspension.

However, according to a letter that SMU President R. Gerald Turner posted on the school's official website, the university does plan to appeal some of the NCAA-imposed sanctions, including the duration of scholarship losses for the men's basketball team and the vacating of wins from the 2013-14 season. 

The NCAA investigation also hit SMU's golf team with sanctions, including a postseason ban next year, a 25 percent reduction in scholarships for three years and a reduced recruiting period.

Turner's letter also noted that SMU is appealing the reduced scholarships and postseason ban for the golf team.

On Sept. 30, Goodman reported the NCAA's punishment for SMU, citing "multiple violations, including academic fraud and unethical conduct." One point of contention in the report was the academic eligibility of Keith Frazier last year.

"Part of the investigation at SMU stemmed from whether former basketball administrator and ex-assistant coach Ulric Maligi helped Keith Frazier to become eligible to play there, a source previously told ESPN," Goodman wrote.

The school's statement, included in Goodman's report, did put the blame on SMU while trying to appeal for mercy for the players currently on the basketball roster. 

"To punish the student-athletes in the men's basketball [program] by prohibiting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in the postseason is simply wrong," the statement said. "It is not what our system of governance should be about and we are considering our response."

Brown has turned SMU's basketball program around in his three years with the program. The Mustangs have had back-to-back 27-win seasons, making the NCAA tournament last season for the first time since 1993. 

SMU is projected to be a top-25 team this season, per Athlon Sports.