The fallout at Michigan continues.
Michigan staffer Connor Stalions, who is at the center of the NCAA investigation into the program’s scouting practices, allegedly purchased tickets for 30 games at 11 Big Ten stadiums over a three-year period, according to ESPN.
Stalions reportedly forwarded some of the tickets to three different people around the country. The report states one Big Ten school scanned video surveillance from inside its stadium and discovered the unknown person sitting in the seat purchased by Stalions holding up a cell phone pointed toward the home team’s bench for the majority of the game.
The NCAA is expected to receive video evidence detailing use of illegal technology this week, according to ESPN.
Those purchased tickets included tickets on both sides of the stadium for this past Saturday’s Ohio State/Penn State game, though he did not use the tickets after he was suspended by Michigan on Friday, when he was publicly identified as the leader of Michigan’s sign-stealing operation in multiple media reports.
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“Sources told ESPN last week of an “elaborate” scouting system, and that appears to be emerging less than a week after Yahoo Sports first reported that the NCAA was investigating Michigan’s scouting. Stalions often purchased the tickets with his own credit card, according to sources. The sources added that tickets at multiple venues were bought via the online retailers like StubHub or SeatGeek.
The ticket purchases fall into a seat location pattern — somewhere around the 45-yard line and raised up enough for a clear view of the opposite sideline.
One source told ESPN Stalions bought tickets to five different games at that school over the past three years. Another said it was four games over the past two years. A third source said it was nine games over the last three years. Some of the purchases were single tickets, others were for multiple people and sometimes seats were bought on both sides of the stadium near midfield.
One source said Stalions bought some tickets across from the home sideline in order to scout the home team, which Michigan played that year. But the source added there’s also been tickets purchased on the other side of the stadium facing the sideline of the opponent, including one purchase across from the visiting sideline in the weeks before Michigan played Ohio State.”
While sign stealing in itself is not a violation of NCAA rules, scouting opponents in person and filming opponents for the purpose of sign stealing are both prohibited.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has already denied knowledge of an illegal sign-stealing operation, saying in a statement Thursday that he does “not have any knowledge or information regarding the University of Michigan football program illegally stealing signals, nor have I directed any staff member or others to participate in an off-campus scouting assignment.”
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel vowed “complete cooperation” from the Wolverines athletic department as the NCAA continues its probe.
“I want to personally assure you that U-M Athletics will offer its complete cooperation to the NCAA in this matter,” Manuel said in a statement to CBS Sports on Friday. “At the University of Michigan, all of us are committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity for all members of our community. This is the same expectation I have of all coaches, staff, and student-athletes.”
A retired United States Marine Corps captain, Stalions was hired by Michigan as an off-the-field analyst in 2022.
