Without Peterson's knowledge, a player gave the individual a ride from the airport and, when his housing plans fell through, allowed him to stay at the player's apartment for some weeks. When Peterson saw they were developing a close friendship, he consulted with the compliance office and insisted that both maintain a proper student athlete/potential recruit relationship. Both informed Peterson that they were conforming to this, and Peterson tasked his recruiting coordinator to follow up on the situation.

When it appeared to all that the individual would not qualify to join the team, he sought career employment with a booster, not itself a violation of any rule. In fact, the individual had sought permanent employment only because of a mistake by the NCAA Clearinghouse in initially declaring him ineligible.

Again, Peterson asked the university's compliance officers for guidance, provided the booster with printed regulations, reviewed the pertinent NCAA rules with the booster and the recruit, and made it clear that the individual must be treated no differently from any other employee.

The employer insists, in writing, that he made every attempt to follow the 30 or so pages of rules and guidance provided to him by Peterson, and that he paid a fair wage in U.S. dollars rather than Canadian dollars because the employee had a U.S. work permit. He even made this employee pay room and board during training, a cost not imposed on other employees. The booster acknowledges that he let the employee ride along in the family car on a few trips without charge, a common business practice in a remote, rural town.

Ultimately BYU compliance helped the NCAA Clearinghouse discover its mistake in not qualifying the player early on. However, the rides and the monetary exchange rate somehow persuaded the NCAA that the young man was given preferential treatment.

Peterson acknowledges that he allowed an ecclesiastical leader to lend bicycles to two students who had inquired about and requested help with transportation to get around in Provo. "I take full responsibility for this situation," states Peterson. "The bicycles were never intended to be inducements to players."

Peterson points out that BYU has a unique culture dedicated to service to others, that the ecclesiastical leader had for years provided similar humanitarian aid to other students. The bikes were supposed to be returned for loan to other needy students or charities.

As for $17,000 provided to a second Cuban athlete, Peterson denies any failure to monitor the situation, and does not agree that this matter even belongs in the NCAA investigation. BYU initially agreed.