WILL VRAGOVIC | Times
FSU released a statement Friday defending itself against a New York Times story alleging academic favoritism toward at least a half-dozen members of the Seminoles' 2013 national title team.
Among the players implicated in the report: former Plant High standout James Wilder Jr.
At the crux of the story was a complaint by a teaching assistant who said she felt pressured to give special treatment to football players in online hospitality courses on coffee, tea and wine.
The assistant, Christina Suggs, provided emails and other evidence in late August 2013 to the Florida State inspector general, the story says.