Four Notre Dame football players will be held out of practice and games while university officials investigate whether they were involved in suspected academic fraud, the school announced Friday evening.
If improprieties were found to have occurred that kept players eligible, the school said it will "voluntarily" vacate any victories in which the players participated.
Vowing to protect the academic integrity of the school, president Rev. John Jenkins and athletic director Jack Swarbrick said at a news conference that receiver DaVaris Daniels, cornerback KeiVarae Russell, defensive end Ishaq Williams and linebacker Kendall Moore are at the center of the school's internal probe into allegations of cheating on tests and papers. The four were interviewed Friday, as Yahoo Sports previously reported, and are being withheld from team activities until the investigation is complete. School officials said non-athletes also are part of the probe, and stressed this is more an academic situation than an athletic one.
A Notre Dame statement said there was "evidence that students had submitted papers and homework that had been written for them by others." They said information was brought to light at the end of the school's summer session, and it was forwarded to the athletic compliance office on July 29.
"We are in the beginning stages of the investigation," Jenkins said.
