From Natalia Ciccone, SID at Maryland:

This email is in reference to your March 26 post on Clay Kallam’s article on Maryland. Kallam is wrong in his claim that there’s an “ongoing NCAA investigation into recruiting violations.” Maryland is not under investigation by the NCAA. A March 11 article in the Washington Post totally refutes Kallam’s claims that Maryland is under investigation by the NCAA.

Please understand that the NCAA often interviews high profile prospects regarding recruiting. This happens every year in multiple sports, not just women’s basketball.

Maryland has no Letter of Inquiry, which is the formal notice from the NCAA that a school is under investigation.

The Washington Post article has sources and quotes and officials who will go on the record, unlike Kallam’s article where he has not cited any sources... his entire article is based on message board rumors that have no merit or sources willing to stand behind their accusations.

I think the state of affairs right now is this: (1) Maryland says that there is no investigation going on. (2) Lots of other people – and not just random fans on message boards – are running around saying, "Yes, there really is an investigation going on." (3) The NCAA won't say.

The March 11 article in WaPo quotes Maryland officials saying that there's no investigation. But as the more recent Orton article said, "The NCAA does not confirm or deny when a school is being investigated."

I guess maybe it really does depend on what you mean by "investigation." The NCAA governing rules make some distinction between preliminary and formal investigations.

Allegations of rules violations are referred to the Association's investigative staff. A preliminary investigation is initiated to determine if an official inquiry is warranted and whether a secondary or major violation has occurred.

I guess I also don't know whether it's true that interviews with players about their recruitment are "routine." Anyone know?