Story of Te'o girlfriend death apparently a hoax

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- A story that Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o's girlfriend had died of leukemia -- a loss he said inspired him to help lead the Irish to the BCS championship game -- was dismissed by the university Wednesday as a hoax perpetrated against the linebacker.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick says his faith has not been shaken in Te'o "one iota."

Swarbrick says an investigation by a firm the school hired has convinced him that Te'o was duped into an online relationship with a woman whose death was then faked by the perpetrators of the hoax.