Joe DeForest, a former Oklahoma State assistant coach and the current special teams coordinator at West Virginia, was involved in a money scandal at OSU that involved paying players, according to a Sports Illustrated report that will be released in the near future.
SI officials reportedly notified Oklahoma State officials on Aug. 28 of the forthcoming allegations. WVU has launched an internal investigation into their assistant coach.
The Sports Illustrated report, detailed by the Oklahoman, claims Oklahoma State coaches and boosters "paid players for jobs they didn't do, paid players more than a job should have paid and paid players for performance." DeForest is also accused of paying players for making certain plays on the field.
West Virginia released a statement on the report on Saturday:
"West Virginia University is aware of an upcoming investigative reporting series in Sports Illustrated which-while focused on another institution-includes allegations against one of our current assistant football coaches regarding his time of employment at his previous Institution," [WVU Athletic Director Oliver] Luck said. "Upon learning of the pending investigative report, WVU launched an internal review to ensure the coach's full compliance to NCAA rules while at West Virginia. The NCAA has also been contacted. While our assistant football coach has denied the allegations, it is the right thing to do to look into the matter and review practices here."
DeForest, who has been an assistant coach since 1990, spent 10 years at Oklahoma State from 2001-2011, serving under Les Miles and current head coach Mike Gundy. He left for West Virginia prior to last season.
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