Michigan State's Miles Bridges made $40 donation to gain reinstatement

Michigan State guard Miles Bridges was briefly ruled ineligible last week during a school investigation into possible NCAA violations, but he was reinstated after making a $40 contribution to a charity.

The university revealed the details Monday.

Michigan State was looking into the Yahoo Sports report implicating many major college programs in an alleged pay-for-play scheme when it uncovered a separate issue involving Bridges.

"In the course of Friday's internal investigation, while it was determined that the allegations detailed in the Yahoo Sports report were not true, the MSU compliance office did uncover an NCAA violation," Michigan State announced in a statement. "Per standard operating procedures, Miles Bridges was declared ineligible and MSU applied for reinstatement. On Saturday afternoon, MSU received word that Bridges had been reinstated by the NCAA.

"Last winter (2016-17), Bridges' family members had dinner with an agent, without Bridges' knowledge. As part of the reinstatement process, Bridges was required to pay $40 (value of dinner) to a charity of his choice.

"While it is not unusual for reinstatement cases to be handled within a day, Michigan State appreciates the NCAA taking swift action."

Multiple media outlets reported that Bridges' mother was paid $400 by Christian Dawkins, who used to work for NBA agent Andy Miller, and that Dawkins paid for a $70.05 dinner with the Bridges family.

Both Bridges and the university denied that he or his mother received improper benefits from Dawkins.

"I haven't (taken money). My mom hasn't. It's as simple as that," Bridges said Sunday after helping Michigan State clinch an outright Big Ten title with a 68-63 win at Wisconsin.

Bridges scored 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds against the Badgers. For the season, he is averaging 16.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists.

Dawkins told federal investigators that he withdrew $400 from an ATM to give to Bridges' mother. Investigators also reportedly found emails from Dawkins in which he told Miller he was "trying to do a trade deal" in which Gary Harris (a former Spartan who now plays for the Denver Nuggets), Bridges and others would join Miller's agency in exchange for getting top recruit Brian Bowen to commit to play for Michigan State.

Bowen ultimately signed to play for Louisville.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and associate coach Dwayne Stephens both were named in the Yahoo Sports report. The scandal has enveloped numerous top programs and led embattled Arizona coach Sean Miller to sit out the Wildcats' most recent game.

Izzo said he was not involved in the follow-up investigation that cleared Bridges to play.

--Field Level Media