Auburn has talked to the NCAA this week- Article

Auburn's Cam Newton is set to play, even after investigation delay, discussions with NCAA


AUBURN -- Mississippi State said Wednesday it made the SEC aware of its concerns over the recruitment of Cam Newton in January, but did not act for six months on a request from the league office for more information.
Mississippi State responded to the SEC request in July, about the same time Auburn began to look at telephone records and other issues in its recruitment of Newton, whom it signed in December and has been a star quarterback this season.
Auburn has been in contact with the NCAA over the matter, including this week.
Tigers coach Gene Chizik said Wednesday that Newton will play Saturday against Georgia.
Mississippi State released a statement about its recruitment of Newton to the media on Wednesday, a highly unusual public move for an SEC school. The school said it did not respond quickly to the SEC because of "ongoing and time-consuming eligibility issues involving non-football matters."
During that period, the school was dealing with eligibility issues involving basketball player Renardo Sidney. Mississippi State did not describe what it told the SEC in its initial contact in January, but its statement comes in the wake of an ESPN.com story that cited recruiting sources at MSU saying Newton's father, Cecil Newton Sr., sought money for his son to play there. The story also said Cam Newton wanted to play at Mississippi State, but quoted another recruiting source at MSU as saying Newton's father picked Auburn because "the money was too much."
The ESPN.com story cited "sources who recruit" for Mississippi State as the basis of its story. MSU coach Dan Mullen said Wednesday that only coaches recruit for the Bulldogs, which is consistent with NCAA rules.
Auburn, Mississippi State and Oklahoma were the three finalists for Newton's services. Newton visited Auburn on Dec. 18-19, was offered a scholarship on Dec. 20, and signed 11 days later. Mississippi State was still recruiting him when he signed, according to the Rivals and Scout websites.
Auburn has rallied around Newton since the first stories questioning his recruitment, and then his academics at Florida, began to emerge last Thursday. He remains academically and athletically eligible, Auburn officials said. Chizik, who offered an emotional defense of Newton on Tuesday, offered another firm endorsement Wednesday.
"Cameron Newton will be playing Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs," Chizik said during the SEC teleconference.
Georgia coach Mark Richt said after Wednesday's practice that "there's nothing that's been proven, that's been done, that's been inappropriate in any way. But it's just amazing the amount of noise there is around it.
"Someone gets accused of something, and it's like a bomb goes off. Whether or not it's true -- and I don't know if some people care if it's true or not -- they're going to sensationalize it and make a big deal of it."
On Wednesday's SEC teleconference, Mullen would not directly answer questions about Newton, who has led the Tigers to a 10-0 record and a No. 2 BCS ranking.
"I'm much more concerned about beating Alabama," Mullen said. Later, Mullen said, "We deal with players in our program that are on our team. Nothing else."
Florida coach Urban Meyer said during the teleconference that his focus is on his game against South Carolina, but he added: "I will say, however, that I was very supportive of Cam when he left here, and Cam and his family know this, and we wish him all the best."
Newton transferred from Florida to Blinn Junior College, then signed with Auburn.
A similar statement attributed to Meyer was released Tuesday. Meyer said in the teleconference he didn't want to release the statement. ``But I felt that whatever they tell me to do, I'll do.''
This is Mississippi State's statement:
"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.''
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