Did Sports Illustrated's special report have a positive impact at Oklahoma State? Coach Mike Gundy thinks so.
Gundy said Monday that he was taking the any publicity is positive publicity angle about the five-part series that came out in September.
“It was interesting,” he said. “We had four or five players that were really good players that started calling on us and showing interest the next few weeks after the article came out. That was the only thing I could attribute it to, because we certainly weren’t playing very good. So it was just kind of interesting.
“I know people think, ‘Well, he’s lost it again.’ But the truth is, you guys, and I hear people say in marketing, any publicity is good publicity. So I thought about that and I thought, ‘I wonder if (prospects) thought, ‘Well, you know, we’ll check them out or see or whatever.’’ I don’t know. It was just kind of weird. But there was interest from players that we didn’t have any interest in until that came out.”
The Sports Illustrated report was a weeklong series with chapters titled "The Money," "The Academics" "The Drugs" and "The Sex," and detailed alleged incidents involving the four categories over the course of 12 years, including stories from Oklahoma State's "Weed Circle," its hostess program and a pay-for-performance system at the school, which of course is illegal by NCAA rules.
Plus, there's this. After evidence came out refuting some of the players' comments in the story, it's largely disappeared as the college football season marched on.
“For the most part,” Gundy said, “until somebody brings it up, it’s almost like it’s faded and gone and not even there any more.”
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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