SMU Basketball Players Issue Statement Regarding NCAA Sanctions

Players on the SMU basketball team released a collective statement to CBS Sports on Wednesday claiming they are being unfairly punished by the NCAA.

Nicole Auerbach of USA Today reported last month that the Mustangs were suspended from 2016 postseason play as part of the punishment for the program's "multiple rules violations." The NCAA also suspended head coach Larry Brown for 30 percent of the team's games during the upcoming season.

Gary Parrish of CBS Sports provided the players' response, which read in part:

"

We, the student-athlete members of the SMU Basketball family, wish to express our profound disappointment and vehement disagreement with the sanctions levied upon us as student-athletes, and with the conclusions drawn by the NCAA Committee on Infractions about our men's basketball program and our coach, Larry Brown. We believe the NCAA exercised questionable judgment in punishing innocent people, and we strongly disagree that a dedicated group of blameless, amateur athletes should bear the overwhelming weight of the consequences in this case. We also wish to make known that the NCAA's conclusion that the SMU Men's Basketball program is not compliant with NCAA rules is simply incorrect.

"

The players go on to argue they are being punished despite playing no role in the situation and are not receiving due process. They believe that unfairly takes away their opportunity to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament or another postseason event.

They conclude by asking the NCAA to reconsider the punishment and by stating, "In the meantime, we will assess our options while continuing to work harder each day to make SMU students, faculty and fans proud of us and our basketball program," per CBS Sports.

Jeff Goodman of ESPN notes that a key part of the probe surrounded the eligibility of guard Keith Frazier. The NCAA investigation didn't confirm names when it announced the findings, but it stated a former assistant coach had a student-athlete sign up for an online course and a former administrative assistant then completed the work.

The ESPN report also states SMU wasn't planning to challenge the postseason ban or Brown's suspension stemming from the NCAA sanctions. It did expect to appeal the duration of scholarship losses and recruiting restrictions as well as the vacated wins from the 2013-14 season, though.

SMU's postseason ban is a major punishment because the team has high expectations going into the season. The Mustangs were ranked No. 21 in the country by Eamonn Brennan of ESPN and were likely to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Now the question is whether the players' collective appeal will have any impact with SMU previously stating it didn't plan to challenge that aspect of the punishment. It's a situation to monitor closely as the team prepares to open the season Nov. 14 against Sam Houston State.