STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno has a treatable form of lung cancer, according to his son.
Scott Paterno said in a statement provided to The Associated Press by a family representative Friday that the 84-year-old Paterno is undergoing treatment and that “his doctors are optimistic he will make a full recovery.”
“As everyone can appreciate, this is a deeply personal matter for my parents, and we simply ask that his privacy be respected as he proceeds with treatment,” Scott Paterno said in the brief statement.
The announcement came less than an hour after Penn State said the NCAA would examine how school officials handled a child sexual-abuse scandal that shocked the campus and cost Paterno a job he held for 46 years.
Scott Paterno said the diagnosis was made during a follow-up visit last weekend for a bronchial illness.
Paterno was fired last week in the aftermath of accusations against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who is charged with sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years. Critics say Paterno should have done more to stop the abuse that a state grand jury detailed in a 23-page report — in particular one assault in 2002.
NCAA president Mark Emmert said in the letter to Penn State president Rod Erickson that the governing body for college sports will look at “Penn State’s exercise of institutional control over its intercollegiate athletics programs.”
Emmert said the case is not yet a formal investigation, though the inquiry could lead to that. NCAA investigators have not yet been on Penn State’s campus. Emmert has asked the university to respond by Dec. 16 to several questions.
