While Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti did not know when an NCAA investigation of the scheme might end, he did stand by his decision to punish Harbaugh while it was still going on.
“I’m not aware yet when the NCAA will come to any final determination, whatever that might be,” said Petitti, who is entering his second year running the conference. “But as to the first part, I can tell you that it was a collaborative process inside the conference office with staff first, trying to understand, gather information.”
That included information from the NCAA that the organization had already gathered last fall.
“There was a lot of cooperation with the NCAA in terms of the information that we had access to, working with our administrators and ultimately our presidents and chancellors as well,” he said. “It was a completely collaborative process.”
As for making the somewhat unusual decision to step in during the season, he referred to his time as chief operating officer of Major League Baseball while that league dealt with the Houston Astros stealing signs in 2017 and ‘18.
“Look, I understand, having come from MLB and watching some of the discipline things that happened there, it’s a difficult process when you’re forced into a situation where you have to decide what to do with a member,” Petitti said. “That’s part of it. You go into that with a lot of respect and try and understand and do what’s fair and protect the entire conference.
“That was the approach we took, and I stand by the results of the decision we made.”
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