A back-and-forth conversation between the Journal-World and a man claiming to be Neil Cornrich, the agent for KU football coach Mark Mangino, was a hoax.

The Journal-World had several conversations with a man claiming to be Cornrich, the final of which was a statement the agent said he wanted to release to the Kansas media. The Journal-World posted it on its Web site while continuing the pursue the story.

A KU football spokesperson said the statement was not true. The Journal-World apologizes for misleading any readers.