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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
The Southwestern Athletic Conference has closed an investigation into an allegation that Jackson State improperly accessed practice footage of Arkansas-Pine Bluff prior to the teams’ game on Nov. 2, it announced Tuesday.
“After conducting a comprehensive review of the information received, which included an IT analysis provided by DVSportINC, both oral and written statements, written statements from both institutions, individual interviews, along with the consultation of legal counsel, the Conference Office does not have enough substantial evidence to prove any allegations of unethical conduct by Jackson State University,” the conference said in a statement.
“The Southwestern Athletic Conference has officially concluded its investigation but reserves the right to review any additional information received on this matter.”
The allegation was first raised Oct. 31, when a UAPB player informed the coaching staff he was told by a Jackson State player that Tigers defensive players were in the Jackson State team facility watching practice film of UAPB from that week, sources told ESPN.
After receiving this information, UAPB coach Alonzo Hampton logged into the software program the team uses to upload and review practice footage and saw that it had been accessed by the account of a former walk-on who had been cut in the spring, sources said. The IP address connected to the account when it accessed the practice video was assigned to Clinton, Mississippi, a town that neighbors Jackson, sources said.
It is unclear who relayed this discovery to the conference office.
Last week, after ESPN reported the allegation was being investigated, a spokesperson for Jackson State said the school had been informed the investigation was closed. However, a SWAC spokesperson told ESPN later in the day the investigation remained open after the conference had received additional information.
The former walk-on told ESPN that he was contacted by UAPB coach Alonzo Hampton and UAPB athletic director Chris Robinson on Oct. 31. The former player spoke with ESPN on the condition his name would not be published, citing a desire to limit blowback in his direction.
“[Hampton] let me know that my film has been accessed and I had logged in, and then he said he got word that Jackson State had been using the film,” the player said. “He was persistent in thinking that I had released the film, and I repeated, ‘No, I didn’t release anything to Jackson State.'”
Shortly after the former player spoke with Hampton, he received a call from Robinson in which he again denied having provided a password to anyone at Jackson State. ESPN reviewed the player’s phone log to confirm the calls took place.
As of Friday, the former player had not been interviewed by the SWAC, he said.
The player reaffirmed to ESPN that he did not share his credentials with anyone at Jackson State but said he had shared that information with teammates at UAPB in the past and that there was a loose culture around sharing login information within the team.
A source familiar with the video-sharing software cautioned against using the IP address as proof the film was accessed near Jackson, as various measures can be used to alter the location of an IP address. The software has a security feature that would have allowed UAPB to limit access for each account to specific devices, but it was not used.
Jackson State (10-2, 7-0 SWAC) was a heavy favorite against UAPB (3-9, 2-6) and held the Golden Lions to their worst offensive performance since being shutout by Arkansas in the season opener.
The Tigers will host Southern in the SWAC championship game on Dec. 7.