BATON ROUGE, LA. (AP) - LSU coach Les Miles said those making allegations in Sports Illustrated of academic fraud at Oklahoma State, or improper payments to players from boosters, “weren’t there long enough to figure it out,” because they were dismissed from the program.
Miles, who spoke on a Southeastern Conference teleconference Wednesday, said he is proud of his time as head coach at Oklahoma State and takes issue with “the idea that somebody would characterize the program that was run there as anything but right and correct.”
He said, “Every guy was encouraged to get his degree, to stay the course, and to fight.”
The Sports Illustrated series contains allegations from players at Oklahoma State between 2000 and 2011. Miles coached at Oklahoma State from 2001-04 before moving to LSU in 2005.
Miles said he and his staff did nothing wrong at OSU.
“Did we work hard? You betcha’. Did we make tough decisions about starting lineups? You betcha’. But every guy was encouraged to get his degree and to stay the course and to fight,” Miles said.
“I can tell you that staff, family and friends, and anybody that sat in our meeting rooms, knew that this thing was done right.”
Miles said he repeatedly told players to “attend class and do the right things.”
He opened the teleconference by talking about his memories of Sept. 11, 2001, when his Oklahoma State team had a game postponed. He also noted that his time as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State overlapped the Oklahoma city bombing and that he “saw the strength of the Oklahoma people.”
“I enjoyed my time in Oklahoma. I can tell you that,” Miles said.
Miles did not take any questions about the OSU matter, saying he is trying to get LSU ready for its game Saturday against Kent State.
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