SOURCE: USA Today

The NCAA is conducting its own investigation of alleged point-shaving and possible extra benefits for athletes at the University of Toledo.

The NCAA investigation is separate from the ongoing federal probe of Harvey “Scooter” McDougle Jr., the senior running back who was charged in March with trying to rig football and men’s basketball games from 2003 to 2006 in exchange for cash, a car, cell phone and other valuables from a self-described gambler from Detroit, Ghazi “Gary” Manni.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit dropped the charges against McDougle in April, but federal investigators continue to pursue the case.

If the NCAA determines McDougle or other athletes accepted money or gifts, then played, Toledo could be subject to sanctions, including forfeiting games in which those players appeared. McDougle was academically ineligible in 2003. The team was 9-4 in 2004, 9-3 in 2005, 5-7 in 2006.

During the 2004 season, McDougle played in 12 games and led the Rockets in rushing with 620 yards and seven touchdowns, including 167 yards in the Mid-American Conference title game, which Toledo won. He played in two games in 2005 because of a knee injury, and three in 2006.

“We have had repeated contacts with the university ...and have been working collaboratively, including a previous campus visit to interview an individual about a potential sports wagering issue that had been brought to our attention,” NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said in a statement to USA TODAY.

Toledo has had “limited contact” with the NCAA since point-shaving allegations surfaced, says university spokesman Tobin Klinger. “We are more than willing to work with the NCAA as time goes on,” he added, declining to classify the organization’s contact with the university as an investigation.

Meanwhile, confirming a report in Tuesday’s editions of The (Toledo) Blade, McDougle has been declared academically ineligible for the 2007 season, athletics department spokesman Paul Helgren says. The school had suspended McDougle from the team after the point-shaving allegations surfaced. He remains enrolled on an athletic scholarship.

McDougle’s father, Harvey McDougle Sr., said Tuesday the school’s determination of his son’s ineligibility is a misunderstanding and that his son expects to graduate in December.

“The work got done. But one of the teachers never posted his grades. I expect it to be overturned,” he says.

Even so, McDougle Sr., says he’s advising his son to transfer to a school where he can play his last season of eligibility, then enter the NFL draft. “They haven’t had his back since he’s been there,” McDougle Sr. says of Toledo.

McDougle Jr.’s grandmother, Barbara McDougle, had sent two letters to university president Lloyd Jacobs demanding to know why the school hasn’t reinstated her grandson to the football team when federal authorities dropped all charges against him two months ago.

Tuesday, Barbara McDougle said she has sent another letter to Jacobs, accusing him of using a “cowardly” tactic to drive her grandson from the school. Declaring her grandson academically ineligible is a “blemish” that could ruin his shot at a pro football career, she wrote in the letter, a copy of which she provided to USA TODAY.

“How can a student participate in an internship program if he is academically ineligible? Does not academics factor in into all scholastic activities?” the letter asks. “How can a student who has taken summer classes since being on your campus be academically ineligible for anything? You used the ’academically ineligible’ trick on Scooter the very first year he came to your school. Now you are playing that same card once more.”