Yeah, this was some really desperate stuff:
"During the Christmas holidays in 2006 and 2007, Hillcrest Church of Christ held parties for some of the international students at the home of an ACU assistant track coach. During those parties, 15 ACU track athletes were given gifts, including small appliances, DVDs, CDs, food items, personal items and cash donated by the church. Before those parties, another assistant had asked the head track coach for a list of international athletes who would be in Abilene during the holidays. Also, the NCAA said the head coach attended the parties and was aware of the gifts received by the athletes.
[football]...According to information provided by the NCAA, an assistant coach, who had previously coached one of the two recruits, helped the student enroll in an English correspondence course at another school and helped him complete the enrollment process. The assistant coach paid the postage and mailed the assignments to the institution to be graded.
The assistant coach, plus another assistant coach, allowed the two recruits to use their computers to complete their respective correspondence work so they could be eligible to play at ACU."
The 'cash payment' was a $545 loan to a sick international athlete who didn't have health insurance, and my understanding is it was or is being paid back. The help the football players got was the use of a coach's computer (no allegation he helped with the assignment) and two $.42 stamps. Some really, really big-time stuff here.
For this they got essentially the same penalty OU got for the Bomar mess. ACU self-reported; OU got caught. Makes lots of sense to me.