The NCAA has placed the University of Central Oklahoma on probation for three years after finding that the university’s football program provided impermissible benefits to six recruits.

As part of the penalty, the university will lose scholarships and its eligibility for television broadcasts for the next two academic years.

According to a report issued today by the NCAA’s Division II Committee on Infractions, a former head coach at the university, Chuck Langston, “failed to meet his responsibility to monitor the football program” by allowing recruits medical treatments, the use of facilities, free housing, and meals and transportation. The value of the benefits totaled $4,772, the committee said.

In addition, the committee found it troubling that Mr. Langston allegedly instructed one of the six prospective athletes to lie during the investigation.

The former head coach is now under a two-year cause-show penalty, which means he cannot seek athletics-related work at an NCAA institution unless both he and his potential employer appear before the committee to determine any limits on his duties.

Central Oklahoma officials said they had not decided whether to appeal. —Hurley Goodall