Since publication began of Sports Illustrated's five piece series on Oklahoma State's football program, many people associated with the program have spoken out in defense of the program and against the individuals quoted in the story.
Now, according to ESPN, university documents obtained by the outlet contradict statements that were made by former safety Fath Carter and information about Carter in the story.
In Tuesday's segment about academics at Oklahoma State, Carter said that he returned to the university after his playing career and got his degree in education. However, according to the university's registrar office, he never did.
George Dorhmann, one of two SI reporters who reported the stories, also said on The Doug Gottlieb Show Tuesday that "Fait' (Carter) has two degrees from Oklahoma State, spoke on the record, recorded. I have no reason to believe he lied. And he's certainly not disgruntled."
Carter didn't have two degrees. Carter attended OSU from 2000-05 but never graduated at all from the school, according to the university's registrar office.
ESPN also said it obtained documents disputing Carter's claim that he and former NFL running back Tatum Bell received failing grades in a spring 2004 class after they were done playing football. According to Bell's transcript that he provided to ESPN, he had withdrawn from Oklahoma State after the fall 2003 semester.
In an interview with Tulsa News 6 on Tuesday, Carter said he "gave the truth -- no matter who likes it, it is the truth."
The Tulsa World said that nine of the 12 players that were quoted in SI's series "either were kicked out of school, dismissed from the program, transferred for playing time issues or just quit. Of those, several had criminal records."
On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated published the third piece of the series, which was centered around drug use throughout the football program.