Last week, Michigan writer Chris Balas of The Wolverine published a report suggesting that Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day’s family had ties to the private investigators responsible for the NCAA’s investigation into Michigan’s alleged sign-stealing scheme, leading to threats against Day and his family. As it turns out, this report was not true.
In an article published in The Wolverine on Friday, Balas claimed that “several sources at Michigan and in the media” were gathering information on two private investigators with ties to Day’s family that they believed to be behind the investigation into Michigan.
The report from Balas spread quickly and virally on Friday and over the weekend. Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports even reported that Day and members of his family received threats as a result of the report. The problem, though, is that the report wasn’t true.
On Monday, Dellenger was able to refute the claim, providing confirmation from both the Big Ten and the NCAA that neither Day nor his family was involved in the investigation.
“Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti contacted NCAA officials on Monday in an effort to seek answers over the claim, senior officials at both the Big Ten and NCAA told Yahoo Sports. The NCAA confirmed that Day nor his family members had any involvement,” Dellenger wrote for Yahoo Sports on Monday.
It’s worth noting that Balas has not issued a retraction of any kind since his report was refuted by Dellenger. In fact, Balas appears to have made several posts on the premium message boards of On3 suggesting that his report was correct, but claiming that the NCAA has no interest in investigating the matter further.
