Syracuse University's basketball program has been the subject of a wide-ranging NCAA investigation, according to multiple reports. Syracuse has received a letter of preliminary inquiry from the NCAA, which has been investigating the school for a multiyear period, CBSSports.com reported Wednesday, one day before the Orange begin play in the NCAA tournament against Montana. It is unclear when Syracuse received the letter of inquiry. The nature of the alleged violations also is unknown, but CBSSports.com reported the transgressions are "major." The scope of the investigation has expanded beyond the NCAA's inquiry last year into possible drug-related violations, and now includes the school's handling of Fab Melo's academic eligibility and an alleged sexual assault case involving three players in 2007, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard. NCAA investigators also have interviewed Syracuse employees and former school employees over the past year, according to the Post-Standard. "Same story they had last year at this time," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said Wednesday in San Jose, Calif., where the Orange will play Montana. "I guess that's annual. I guess next year we'll get it again." Syracuse stunningly declared last March that Melo was ineligible for the 2012 NCAA tournament just prior to its opening game. Melo, the Big East's defensive player of the year, also had missed three games earlier in the season due to an academic issue. "Last year was completely different," Boeheim said. "We didn't have Fab Melo; that's a little different. That was not a distraction; it was an absence. And they handled it as well as they could." Boeheim would not answer any specific questions about the reports but said he wasn't bothered by the timing on the eve of the tournament. Read more http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...ncaa-investigation-according-multiple-reports
