PSU probe not done

STATE COLLEGE - With a deadline looming today, Penn State asked for more time to respond to an NCAA inquiry over the university's handling of accusations of child sex abuse against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Penn State general counsel Cynthia Baldwin said in a letter to NCAA president Mark Emmert released yesterday that answers to the NCAA's questions about the Sandusky case might come from other, separate probes already in progress. Among them is a university trustees investigation spearheaded by former FBI director Louis Freeh.

Baldwin spoke to Emmert and other NCAA staff by phone Nov. 23 about the concurrent inquiries, according to the letter dated Dec. 12.

"The university understands that the NCAA will continue to monitor these investigations and will have access to the report" from Freeh and the trustees, Baldwin said.

"At that time, the NCAA will determine if further response from the university is necessary," she wrote before requesting more time.

Both the NCAA and Penn State signaled in recent weeks the school might not make the deadline to provide complete answers to questions posed by the college sports governing body.

The Big Ten announced last week it would also conduct its own review and reserved the right to hand down sanctions pending its findings.

The Department of Education also is looking into Penn State, along with the separate criminal case by the state attorney general's office.