San Diego State senior Malik Pope has been cleared by the university to return to action after being named in a Yahoo! Sports report related to the FBI college basketball corruption investigation on Friday. In the wake of the published report, Pope was withheld from competition and missed one game, but will be back on the court Tuesday when the Aztecs play Boise State.
In the Yahoo! Sports report, Pope allegedly accepted a $1,400 loan from a sports agent, which triggered SDSU to withhold him as a precaution pending an internal review.
"I, along with my family, have never had contact nor accepted anything from the two people named in the story," Pope said in a statement. "Since the report, I have worked with our compliance office to show that I have not broken any NCAA rules. I want to thank the San Diego State community for their support and faith in me during this process. I look forward to joining my teammates on the court."
Pope, who is averaging a team-high 12.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game this season, will be a welcomed addition to SDSU's squad as they host a talented Boise team on Tuesday night that topped the Aztecs by three points earlier in the season.
