NCAA wraps up its work at Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI - As the NCAA concluded three days of interviews with football players and officials at Mississippi State, coach Jackie Sherrill addressed the situation at the Southeastern Conference&#39;s football media day. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m not going to jump off a 50-foot cliff because somebody&#39;s coming in and talking to our players,&#39;&#39; Sherrill said Thursday in Birmingham, Ala. ``I know what I&#39;ve done and how we operate. If there are any issues, we will correct them and deal with them and have checks and balances and we&#39;ll move on.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Sherrill doesn&#39;t feel the investigation will be a distraction to his players. <br> <br> ``Players are not concerned about that. Y&#39;all (the media) are more concerned about it than the players,&#39;&#39; he said. ``I guess that&#39;s the best way to put it.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Investigators met with school officials Thursday after interviewing eight football players the previous two days. <br> <br> One of the NCAA investigators was Rick Johanningmeier, who was also registered at a Jackson hotel about two weeks ago. <br> <br> On Tuesday, senior wide receiver Terrell Grindle, senior defensive tackle Tommy Kelly, senior cornerback Demetric Wright and redshirt freshman safety Clarence McDougal were interviewed. <br> <br> Wright and Kelly were both mentioned in a letter from former Mississippi athletic director John Shafer to former Southeastern Conference commissioner Roy Kramer. <br> <br> In the letter, dated Oct. 30 and recently made public, Shafer questioned how the players - both junior college transfers who failed to qualify academically at Ole Miss - qualified academically at Mississippi State. <br> <br> Shafer told The Associated Press on Thursday that he had written the letter ``a couple of years ago&#39;&#39; and did not know what the SEC did with it. He said he had thought no more about the letter because ``they both played against us last year.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Investigators spoke Wednesday with sophomore wide receiver Ray Ray Bivines and three freshman - fullback Willie Evans, tailback Jerious Norwood and safety Darren Williams. <br> <br> Bivines, who played at Gautier, caught 14 passes last season after redshirting in 2000. He chose Mississippi State over Mississippi, Arkansas and LSU. <br> <br> Evans verbally committed to Southern Miss before his senior season at Wayne County High School, but changed his commitment to Mississippi State in January and signed with the Bulldogs in February. <br> <br> Brandon&#39;s Norwood and Clarksdale&#39;s Williams were widely considered Mississippi&#39;s top two recruits last season. Norwood committed to Mississippi State in June 2001. Williams did the same three months later. Both players continued to be actively recruited after publicly announcing their nonbinding commitments. <br> <br> This is the second time in the past year that the NCAA has interviewed Mississippi State athletes. <br> <br> Mississippi State athletic director Larry Templeton said this week that the MSU athletic department self-reported ``probably 10 to 12&#39;&#39; of what he termed ``secondary violations&#39;&#39; over the last 18 months.