Iowa State men’s basketball head coach Larry Eustachy denied Thursday that an NCAA investigation of Iowa State’s recruiting of Indian Hills Community College standout center Ernest Brown had any substance, saying his program has an “impeccable record.”

Eustachy said the preliminary investigation, which centers on ISU administrative basketball assistant Tres Chapman’s role in getting Brown to sign on with the Cyclones in November of last year, is a routine matter when going after top-notch recruits.

“This is what happens when you recruit big-time players. It’s just a part of the process at this level. I don’t think [former ISU basketball player] Lee Love was ever investigated coming here,” he said.

In an interview with the Associated Press, ISU athletic director Gene Smith confirmed that Iowa State received a letter of inquiry concerning the 7-1 center in August of last year. Brown transferred to Indian Hills last spring from Mesa (Ariz.) Community College, several months after Chapman left his position as an assistant coach at Mesa to take a post running summer basketball camps at Iowa State.

“I feel very good about this particular inquiry. When you recruit a high-profile athlete, sometimes that happens,” Smith told the AP. “Accusations are made, and you have to respond to them. It’s not the first time, and it probably won’t be the last.”

In an interview with the Associated Press, Mesa athletic director Allen Benedict said the NCAA asked him late last year if Chapman played any role in getting Brown to commit to Iowa State and if Iowa State had recruited Brown during a “dead period,” when contact with recruits is prohibited.

Benedict said to his knowledge, Chapman and Iowa State violated no NCAA rules in recruiting Brown.

“I trusted Tres,” Benedict told the AP. “I think he had loyalty to this program, and I don’t think he would have done anything to jeopardize the Iowa State program.”

Eustachy said he considered ISU’s program to be one of the most scrupulous in the country.

“We have an impeccable record as a program wherever we’ve gone. We’ve never had any problems of any kind,” he said. “I’m sure there’s not a cleaner, tighter program in the country than us.”

Eustachy said assistant coach Randy Brown tracks all of his staff’s recruiting efforts, often to the point of absurdity.

“We self-report so much. Last year we had to report [University of Kansas freshman guard] Kirk Hinrich because he took a Coke out of the machine and didn’t pay for it. So we reported that, and he had to give $1.00 to his favorite charity in order to be recruited again. So we’re sticklers for the rules here,” he said.

And though Eustachy said the timing of the inquiry was not exactly desirable, he did not foresee it bothering his team any as they strive to secure the conference championship in the next four games.

“The timing of this is unfortunate, but it won’t bother the players any. They’ve been interviewed by the NCAA before. I guarantee you that Marcus Fizer has been interviewed before. I’d bet $1,000 that he has,” he said.