[Emperor Smeat]

At least eight former Oklahoma State football players say they received cash payments from people associated with the Cowboys program starting in the Les Miles era and identified another 29 players as having also taken money, Sports Illustrated revealed Tuesday in the first of a five-part investigative series on the football program. Some players received $2,000 annually and others around $10,000, multiple players told SI, with a few stars allegedly receiving $25,000 or more.

Subsequent installments of the investigative piece allege that there also was widespread academic misconduct involving the football program, that the program tolerated recreational drug use and that members of a hostess program had sex with recruits. The first part of the series concentrated on financial irregularities in the football program. SI reported that payments to players, which stretched from 2001 to at least '11 under head coaches Miles and Gundy, were primarily delivered three ways: a de facto bonus system based on performances on the field; direct payments to players from boosters and coaches independent of performance; and no-show and sham jobs -- including work related to the renovation of Boone Pickens Stadium -- that involved at least one assistant coach and several boosters. Miles, now the coach at LSU, was instrumental in creating a "hospitable" environment for boosters, according to Sports Illustrated. Several players claimed that former Oklahoma State special teams and secondary coach Joe DeForest played an integral role in the bonus payment system and would determine how much players would get.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...-les-miles-era