Report says former Minnesota coach Clem Haskins encouraged lying amid a scandal of cheating, academic fraud in basketball program.

ST. PAUL _ The University of Minnesota basketball program was so riddled with academic fraud and other misconduct that student-athletes earned credits from classes they never knew about, faculty were bullied by basketball staff and the head coach told players to lie about the scope of the cheating.

In the middle stood Clem Haskins, the former coach who not only knew about the cheating, but fostered a climate that allowed nearly of a decade of NCAA violations to amass at Minnesota's flagship university, the investigation concluded.

On Friday, University of Minnesota President Mark Yudof was left to apologize to a school and a state for what is being called one of, if not the biggest, scandals in NCAA history.

``I'm sorry,'' Yudof said. ``I apologize for what has happened and what did not happen to prevent this activity. I regret we've brought shame and embarrassment upon the university for which you've demonstrated such loyalty.''

But he also called the scandal ``one of the most serious cases of academic fraud ever reported to the NCAA'' and acknowledged Minnesota's place as one of the most sullied …