March 17, 2011

WACO, Texas - The NCAA Division I Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement has denied the appeal of Baylor men's basketball freshman forward Perry Jones III. Baylor officials, the University's outside counsel of Bond, Schoeneck & King for this case and Jones III presented their appeal Wednesday and received the committee's decision Thursday afternoon.

"We were informed this afternoon that the Division I Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement denied Baylor's appeal on behalf of Perry Jones III. Based upon the totality of the circumstances, we continue to believe that Perry Jones III and the Baylor's men's basketball team received a disparate outcome in relation to other recent high profile cases," said Ian McCaw, Director of Athletics. "While this decision is final, senior NCAA leaders have agreed to Baylor's request to meet and discuss concerns that have arisen related to this case.

"Baylor and Perry have been cooperative, responsive and transparent in working with the NCAA through this process," he added.

Jones III was declared ineligible for pre-enrollment amateurism violations/preferential treatment prior to the Bears' 2011 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship first round game against Oklahoma, March 9. These are not considered to be institutional violations of NCAA rules as no Baylor representatives were involved or had knowledge of any preferential treatment benefits exchanged between the Jones family and Perry's long-time AAU coach.

A second-team 2011 United States Basketball Writers Association Freshman All-American, Jones III was a finalist for the Wayman Tisdale Award given to the nation's top freshman. He finished the regular season as the Big 12 freshman leader in scoring (13.9) and field goal percentage (54.9).