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Oklahoma State banned from 2020-21 postseason for Level I violation

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The NCAA announced Friday that it's banned Oklahoma State's men's basketball team from competing in the 2020-21 postseason due to a Level I violation.

The Cowboys have also been placed on probation for the next three years, fined $10,000 plus 1% of the men's basketball program's budget, and had their number of men's basketball scholarships reduced "by a total of three" for 2020-21 through 2022-23.

The NCAA ruled that former associate head coach Lamont Evans breached ethical conduct rules by accepting between $18,150 and $22,000 in bribes from financial advisors to influence student-athletes. Evans was also found to have broken rules by refusing to provide relevant information to the NCAA's investigation.

"The conduct at issue in this case was related to a broader scheme that involved money and influence at the intersection of college and professional basketball," the Division I Committee on Infractions said. "The scheme resulted in the arrest and prosecution of multiple individuals - including college basketball coaches - on conspiracy and bribery charges, and it led to significant NCAA reforms."

Oklahoma State will file an immediate appeal of the penalties, the school announced.

"The university is stunned by the severity of the penalties and strongly disagrees with them. The penalties do not align with the facts and are unfair and unjust," the Cowboys said.

Evans was one of four assistant coaches arrested in 2017 as part of the FBI's investigation into recruiting corruption, bribery, and fraud in college basketball. He was sentenced to three months in prison and 100 hours of community service in June 2019.

Oklahoma State's punishment comes as the program is set to welcome Cade Cunningham, the No. 2-ranked player in the 2020 ESPN 100, to its program.

Before committing to the Cowboys, Cunningham received a lucrative offer to join the new G League program but didn't have a significant amount of interest at the time, according to Stadium's Jeff Goodman.

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