NCAA TO DISCLOSE PROBE RESULTS; ANNOUNCEMENT ON SEMO TODAY

Southeast Missouri State University's ordeal with the NCAA regarding alleged violations by the school's men's basketball program finally is about to end.

The NCAA announced Wednesday that it has scheduled a telephone press conference for 11 a.m. today to announce the decision of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions.

"We're very pleased the results of the investigation will be made public," said Southeast executive vice president Ken Dobbins.

Dobbins and other Southeast officials -- including basketball coach Gary Garner -- were reportedly notified of the NCAA's decision Wednesday evening, but they are prohibited from officially releasing any information to the public until the NCAA does.

Dobbins said earlier in the day that "We're anxious to find out what sanctions will be given to us so we can move forward."

Garner, who recently completed his first season at Southeast and was not at the school when the alleged violations took place under former coach Ron Shumate and his staff, is anxious for everything to come out into the open.

The Indians have not landed any players during either last fall's early signing period or the spring signing period that began Wednesday, mainly because no player is willing to commit until he finds out just what the NCAA's ruling will be.

"What has been really frustrating is not knowing what's going to happen," said Garner. "Since we haven't known what was going to happen, we haven't been able to tell our potential recruits anything.

"We've told them we'll let them know when we find out, so at least now we can tell them something and move forward with our recruiting."

The severity of the penalties Southeast could receive is open to speculation. Penalties could range from a postseason ban on the severe side to the reduction of a scholarship or two on the relatively minor side.

There has been speculation that since the school took quick action to self-report what it deemed to be its own violations, and since the school also took swift action to dismiss the previous coaching staff, penalties could be relatively minor.

Recent speculation has also centered around this: Since the NCAA has waited until after the start of the spring signing period to hand down its decision -- which theoretically would hamper recruiting -- that in itself might serve as the program's severest penalty.