NCAA probing Weber State football for 'potential academic issues'

Weber State's athletics director hopes his department will be spared from the harshest NCAA penalties after self-reporting what was termed "potential academic issues" involving the football program.

"It's always better to be upfront and transparent about what you find," AD Jerry Bovee said to The Tribune on Thursday. "So, I think that always with the NCAA they look upon it a lot more favorably when you're governing yourself and when you have a strong nature of compliance."

Compliance to what, however, remains a bit of a mystery. Citing sources, the Ogden Standard-Examiner reported that the NCAA began interviewing players Tuesday about possible academic fraud involving math classes.

Bovee declined to comment on the report, saying, "Once you get into that phase where you're working with the NCAA, they're pretty strict about keeping things under wraps until we're able to conclude the investigation."

The time frame of the alleged academic fraud is unclear. According to a statement released by the university on Wednesday, however, Weber State became aware of potential issues late in the spring.

University spokesman John Kowalewski said the office of President Charles Wight would not release a statement, and that the press release from the athletics department would stand as the university's statement.

boram@sltrib.comTwitter: @tribjazz