The University’s Athletic Compliance Office is close to finishing its internal investigation of the Gophers hockey program, which began in October after reports surfaced concerning an illegal $500 payment coach Doug Woog made to former player Chris McAlpine.
“It’s been a long process that we want to make sure and do the right way,” compliance coordinator Chris Schoemann said.
The University suspended Woog for two games on Oct. 21 and took one scholarship away from the hockey program for next season because of the McAlpine incident.
Schoemann, who is the sole person working on the report, said on Tuesday that he has met with men’s athletics department officials in the past week to discuss the investigation.
In an interview last month, Schoemann said the final step before sending the report to the NCAA is deciding if the University should impose further sanctions against the hockey program based on findings from the investigation.
Schoemann said he has talked with more than 60 people about the hockey program, including former players.
“With the McAlpine thing and the other allegations that have come up,” Schoemann said, “we’ve tried to talk directly to everybody that had direct or indirect knowledge of what went on.”
Schoemann wouldn’t comment about the potential outcome of the investigation or speculate on when he will finish the report.
— Michael Rand