Mississippi State University acknowledges that it contacted the
Southeastern Conference office in January of 2010 regarding an issue
relating to its recruitment of Cam Newton.
Shortly after the initial call, the SEC office requested specific
information to include interviews with involved staff from MSU.
Due to MSU dealing with ongoing and time-consuming eligibility issues
involving non-football matters in the winter and spring of 2010, the
specific SEC request went unfulfilled. Some additional information was
provided to the SEC during July of 2010. Once the NCAA enforcement
staff became involved, Mississippi State University cooperated fully
with its investigation. MSU is confident the SEC office has managed
this process consistent with its established procedures and the
university is committed to the conference’s ongoing efforts to ensure
compliance with SEC and NCAA rules.