NCAA=Joke

[Da Coach]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2457878

The NCAA had a chance to show us that they are fair and take a had-line stance against willful, purposeful cheating. But again they showed that they play favorites and are little more than a joke.

Kelvin Sampson broke NCAA rules 577 times (who knows how many more were not documented?). He did it knowing it was a violation and was wrong. He did it because he knew that breaking the rules would give him an advantage in recruiting. And his excuse was that "other people are doing it", which is simply not true.

So the NCAA penalized Sampson by prohibiting from leaving campus to recruit or making phone calls for 1 year. This amounts to a light slap on the wrist, since he can still field phone calls from recruits (even those arranged by assistants), and he can still email and text-message recruits (which is the preferred method of contacting them these days anyway).

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2458353

There is no penalty restricting scholarships or postseason play.

As Katz says--
So, technically Sampson could e-mail or text a recruit and have the recruit call Sampson back. Also, an assistant coach could have the recruit telephone him, and the assistant coach could conceivably hand the phone to Sampson as long as Sampson didn't make the call. Sampson could also receive phone calls on an 800-number, which most major schools have coming into their office.

Sampson can apparently still make calls to high school and AAU coaches. And he can still visit with recruits who are brought to the Indiana campus. So nobody expects these penalties to hamper his recruiting at Indiana significantly. He also will collect every cent of his 8 figure long-term deal with Indiana.

Good thing he didn't accidentally step into a summer scrimmage and yell "Play Harder!".

[Biff]

Wow- 577 intentional phone calls made on purpose to cheat at the recruiting game amounts to "minor infractions". Yet an inadvertant overpayment in a summer job for an established player is a major violation. Seems out of whack to me.

[MacabreMob]

I wonder if Kirk Wessler will write an article about the NCAA?

Just taking from his recent fabulous piece titled 'Doubting Bradley's motives', here are some quotes he could apply to a similar article about the NCAA.

"I want to believe what I hear coming out of (the NCAA). I want to believe they're running a clean and tidy ship over there in the department of athletics.

Suffice to say I want to believe. I want to trust. It's kind of important, you know?

But sometimes it's kind of hard.

I get asked why I'm so cynical. What keeps me from giving (the NCAA) the benefit of the doubt?

Oh, let's see.

I agree the general public doesn't need to know every tiny detail.

I want to believe what I hear coming out of (the NCAA). I honestly do.

The (NCAA), however, creates for itself major credibility problems. I recognize (the NCAA) is a private (organization) and not legally obligated to tell you anything about its affairs. But (the NCAA) cannot escape its moral obligation to be more forthcoming.

But they don't respect you enough to be open and trust you with the truth.

Those things are none of your business, they say.

This is why some of us wonder.

(The NCAA's) behavior gives us reason to doubt."

Kirk? Are you out there? You got anything for the NCAA? Huh?

[bu fan 9]

It is all about TV money and big names to the NCAA what a JOKE!!!!!!!!

[Da Coach]

I wonder if Kirk Wessler will write an article about the NCAA?
Kirk? Are you out there? You got anything for the NCAA? Huh?

MM, what a prediction! Kirk does tackle the silliness of the NCAA in today's column.

See #6 in the 6-pack of rants-

http://pjstar.com/stories/052606/KIR_B9TSQ12S.073.shtml

More NCAA stuff in KW's web log-

http://pjstar.com/php/index.php?/wessler/index/

[Bravesguy]

"The NCAA looks stupid when it tags any school with a secondary violation that reads like this one, which Bradley acknowledged committing:

"An assistant men's basketball coach briefly observed student-athletes engaging in a pickup basketball contest in the university's gym when he walked through the gym on his way to the weight room. He told a student-athlete to 'play harder.' "

The rules book is full of well-intended but meaningless prohibitions that are largely unenforceable and, therefore, violated daily from coast to coast. They serve no purpose other than to give the enforcement staff extra infractions to pile into its reports. This, in turn, detracts from the real crimes and makes it difficult for reasonable people to take the NCAA seriously.

A gram of common sense, along with a bonfire for about 400 of the 487 pages in the NCAA Manual, would be most welcome."
KIRK WESSLER is Journal Star executive sports editor/columnist

Kirk, as always, your fine opinions are welcome here, and I am in full agreement.

[collegehoopjunkie]

So now wait a minute.
Did Bradley get what they deserved as stated in his rant from Monday's column?
Or are they being unfairly punished by stupid NCAA rules that are unevenly enforced as he is saying today?
Sometimes his tendency to hypocritically change his point of view rivals only Dick Lien and Phil Theobald in its scope!
lefty, what do you think?

[tornado]

I am tempted to do a pick-em on the situation at Kansas,
where the NCAA uncovered numerous significant violations, and there is a hearing set for Aug. 13 to determine if additional penalties should be assessed.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/15060773.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Does anyone actually think the NCAA will do anything serious to penalize KU?
Any player suspensions?
Any probation or loss of scolarships?
Any post season ban?

[MacabreMob]

I am tempted to do a pick-em on the situation at Kansas,
where the NCAA uncovered numerous significant violations, and there is a hearing set for Aug. 13 to determine if additional penalties should be assessed.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/15060773.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Does anyone actually think the NCAA will do anything serious to penalize KU?
Any player suspensions?
Any probation or loss of scolarships?
Any post season ban?

I'm gonna be happy either way. They get the hammer - I'm happy. They get nothing, Illinois fans will be in a frenzy and that also makes me happy.

[tornado]

Just figured out that article is on a pay site, so for those who don't get it, here it is:

>>>>>>>>
Posted on Tue, Jul. 18, 2006



KU keeps faith
Perkins is ???‚¬??cautiously optimistic???‚¬?„? about next month???‚¬?„?s meeting with infractions committee.
By JASON KING
The Kansas City Star

LAWRENCE | - Less than a month remains before Kansas???‚¬?„? Aug. 13 appearance in front of the NCAA???‚¬?„?s Committee on Infractions.

If Jayhawks athletic director Lew Perkins is worried, he???‚¬?„?s not letting on.

???‚¬?“I???‚¬?„?m a glass-half-full kind of guy,???‚¬?? Perkins said. ???‚¬?“I???‚¬?„?m trying to focus on the positives instead of the negatives.???‚¬??

A commendable stance, considering there wasn???‚¬?„?t anything pleasant about the Notice of Allegations letter KU received earlier this spring. Citing 11 rules violations, including academic fraud, the NCAA deemed that KU demonstrated a ???‚¬?“lack of institutional control???‚¬?? from 1997 to 2003.

Kansas will be hoping to get that charge revoked when it discusses the allegations with the committee next month in Baltimore. After the meeting, the committee is expected to take six to eight weeks to determine what further sanctions, if any, to levy against Kansas???‚¬?„? athletic department.

The Jayhawks have already self-imposed a two-year probation and reduced scholarships in football and women???‚¬?„?s basketball.

???‚¬?“Right now I???‚¬?„?d say we???‚¬?„?re cautiously optimistic that things will go our way,???‚¬?? Perkins said.

The NCAA???‚¬?„?s findings came a year after KU uncovered numerous rules violations during an internal investigation that Perkins ordered shortly after his hiring in the summer of 2003. Kansas reported the results to the NCAA, which then conducted its own investigation.

For the most part, the NCAA???‚¬?„?s findings mirrored those that were in KU???‚¬?„?s report. Still, in its Notice of Allegations letter, the NCAA asked Kansas to provide written responses to questions regarding each allegation.

For instance, the NCAA has asked Kansas 11 questions about an allegation involving a graduate assistant football coach providing test answers to a prospective student athlete. Among the things requested: an overview of the athlete???‚¬?„?s academic history, an overview of KU???‚¬?„?s recruitment of the athlete and statements about when staff members became aware of the academic fraud.

Rick Evrard, the former NCAA enforcement official who conducted KU???‚¬?„?s internal investigation, estimated that the school???‚¬?„?s response to the NCAA will surpass 400 pages.

???‚¬?“In our case, the self-report was the basis for which the (NCAA) staff prepared the allegations,???‚¬?? Evrard said. ???‚¬?“So most of these (allegations) are agreed upon. But there are instances where that???‚¬?„?s not the case.

???‚¬?“That???‚¬?„?s what the committee ultimately wants to know: They want to know where the factual disputes are. Where does the enforcement staff believe a violation occurred? And where does (Kansas) believe that there???‚¬?„?s not enough evidence to support the allegation????‚¬??

Both groups see eye-to-eye when it comes to most of the violations that allegedly occurred. Kansas officials, however, believe that the NCAA was too harsh in slapping them with the ???‚¬?“lack of institutional control???‚¬?? tag.

In the last three years, scandals and instances of wrongdoing have been uncovered at Colorado and Missouri. But neither of those schools was hit with the dreaded ???‚¬?“lack of institutional control???‚¬?? label. Baylor, meanwhile, was cited for a lack of institutional control for one of the worst scandals in NCAA history ???‚¬??? the 2003 murder of one of its basketball players and cover-up.

The NCAA alleged that it went on at Oklahoma when it was discovered that the men???‚¬?„?s basketball staff made in excess of 500 illegal recruiting calls. But that charge was reduced to ???‚¬?“lack of monitoring???‚¬?? after Sooners officials met with the Committee on Infractions last spring. Perkins and Evrard are hoping for a similar result next month.

???‚¬?“You don???‚¬?„?t want to go in and argue that there???‚¬?„?s not a lack of institutional control if it happened and if there???‚¬?„?s case precedent that supports the committee???‚¬?„?s decision to find a lack of control,???‚¬?? Evrard said. ???‚¬?“The problem is that when you look at case precedent and what they have and haven???‚¬?„?t deemed a lack of control ???‚¬?¦ it???‚¬?„?s just unpredictable.???‚¬??

Evrard also said KU will question why the lack of institutional control charged was based, in part, on violations that occurred before 1999.

He said an NCAA bylaw on the statute of limitations states that the enforcement staff is only supposed to look at things that occurred within four years of the date that the notice of an internal investigation is reported. In this case that date was June 2003.

???‚¬?“I think the staff reached back a little bit further than what we believe is an accurate period of time,???‚¬?? Evrard said.

Perkins and Evrard will both attend next month???‚¬?„?s meeting, which could last an entire day. Also in attendance will be men???‚¬?„?s basketball coach Bill Self, football coach Mark Mangino, chancellor Robert Hemenway and faculty representative Don Green. It???‚¬?„?s also possible that some of the graduate assistant football coaches will be present to discuss the allegations.

???‚¬?“Basically, anyone who has anything at risk ???‚¬??? their jobs, their eligibility, whatever ???‚¬??? has the chance to come,???‚¬?? Evrard said.

As for Kansas???‚¬?„? ultimate fate, Perkins said he hopes the NCAA looks favorably on the manner in which KU has handled the situation. Perkins noted that Kansas was forthright in self-reporting the violations.

Along with the self-imposed probation and scholarship reductions, the school has also taken corrective measures by adding to its compliance staff while increasing its rules education practices for athletes, coaches and alumni.

???‚¬?“The NCAA staff has told us over and over again how cooperative we???‚¬?„?ve been and how supportive we???‚¬?„?ve been,???‚¬?? Perkins said. ???‚¬?“This is not an antagonistic kind of thing.???‚¬??

Thus, the best-case scenario would be for the Committee on Infractions to accept the self-imposed sanctions that KU has already enforced.

But Perkins also realizes tougher penalties could be in store. Maybe it???‚¬?„?s additional scholarship reductions or recruiting restrictions. Or perhaps KU will be hit with a bowl ban or see a cutback in its television appearances.

???‚¬?“I???‚¬?„?d be overly shocked if that happened,???‚¬?? Perkins said. ???‚¬?“Overly shocked. Instead of going in there worrying about what you think might happen, you need to focus on what you want to happen. What I???‚¬?„?m really looking forward to is putting this all behind us.???‚¬??

[Da Coach]

This case falls into the "oops we're awful sorry we broke so many rules, but we'll slap our wrists and try not to do it again. And plaease don't penalize us any more" category.

[Bravesguy]

But isn't it amazing how often the big schools get away with that?
When BU tried it,
the NCAA comes back with additional penalties and probation for violations way less than what Kansas did.