So NCAA whacks SMU in 8 months, but nothing yet for UNC

[UcMiami]

I really cannot believe that the NCAA can come to a determination and a very serious penalty in the SMU men's basketball case in 8 months, but has yet to determine if UNC violated any rules in, what, four years, of the largest organized academic fraud in the history of college being uncovered.
UFB
What an absolute joke!
On men's basketball player being assisted on one pre college on-line credit course results in 3 years probation, and 6 lost scholarships over 3 years, and one year post season ban. BUT an acknowledge 3000+ fake athletic student university classes and the NCAA isn't sure if any rules were broken?!!!!
If the NCAA was being consistent, based on this penalty to SMU, UNC may not be able to field any sports teams for the rest of this century!!!

 

[HoopsFan21]

They're fast and efficient at levying punishments and violations when they want to be, and aren't when they don't. It took them all of 48 hours to hit Geno with that secondary violation for the call to Mone Davis, something quite a few people familiar with the rules have said wasn't even a violation. We also know they are quick to penalize based on new academic standards they felt like applying retroactively, because you know, "academics matter," unless you're a P5 school, then of course they don't because those kids "ain't here to play school" (quoting Ohio State's quarterback). Get used to it folks. There's going to be one set of rules for P5 schools, and another for the smaller schools.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Yes, the same thing instantly came to mind in hearing of SMU. Of course the Coach involved had a long, checkered history, but the fact is that SMU's delicts were but a small fraction of the institutionalized corruption at Carolina. It should be apparent that the NCAA long ago sold its soul to the TV dollar and that is the P5 and within them those programs that generate the Neilsen ratings.

 

[HGN]

I really cannot believe that the NCAA can come to a determination and a very serious penalty in the SMU men's basketball case in 8 months, but has yet to determine if UNC violated any rules in, what, four years, of the largest organized academic fraud in the history of college being uncovered.
UFB
What an absolute joke!
On men's basketball player being assisted on one pre college on-line credit course results in 3 years probation, and 6 lost scholarships over 3 years, and one year post season ban. BUT an acknowledge 3000+ fake athletic student university classes and the NCAA isn't sure if any rules were broken?!!!!
If the NCAA was being consistent, based on this penalty to SMU, UNC may not be able to field any sports teams for the rest of this century!!!

UcMiami , when you are right , you right. Where is the consistency and fairness here. Swift judgement for one and not the other? Is it $Dollars the NCAA is worried about. We all know that UNC has more followers nationally and generate more tourny dollars , both basketball teams and football as well. Maybe that's what the delay is all about.

 

[Beemer]

What a crock. I'm not giving SMU a pass here by any means. You'd think that they would have learned something from the death penalty the NCAA gave its football program back in the 80s but I guess the corruption is just too deep.

But for the NCAA to let UNC slide while dropping the hammer on SMU in a relatively short period of time? Complete & utter BS IMO. And the bad thing is I don't believe the NCAA even realizes that every time they do something like this it further erodes its credibility.

 

[Bayareahusky]

NCAA really shows its stripes here doesn't it? I think they are in midst of investigation with UNC yes, but they had closed previous investigation if memory serves me correctly.... until they were forced to reopen it due to exposure of the UNC ills in the press..... NCAA can freely take swipes at easy targets like UNLV and SMU and folks they love to hit, but God Forbid, do not hit the darlings UNC oh no!!!

 

[Gate81]

Maybe also with there being SO much more of an issue at UNC, the complexity keeps unraveling and it will take them another year!

 

[jcoton56]

The NCAA really does not deserve to be in existance. That would take an act of..... never mind.

 

[j66kicker]

I really cannot believe that the NCAA can come to a determination and a very serious penalty in the SMU men's basketball case in 8 months, but has yet to determine if UNC violated any rules in, what, four years, of the largest organized academic fraud in the history of college being uncovered.
UFB
What an absolute joke!
On men's basketball player being assisted on one pre college on-line credit course results in 3 years probation, and 6 lost scholarships over 3 years, and one year post season ban. BUT an acknowledge 3000+ fake athletic student university classes and the NCAA isn't sure if any rules were broken?!!!!
If the NCAA was being consistent, based on this penalty to SMU, UNC may not be able to field any sports teams for the rest of this century!!!

I heard one talking head speculate that now the NCAA has a new precedent for academic fraud. They gave SMU roughly the same penalty as Syracuse: 1-year post-season ban, coach suspended 9 games, loss of 9 scholarships over 3 years (Syracuse lost 12), various recruiting restrictions. The question was if now the NCAA would apply the same formula to UNC.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

The question was if now the NCAA would apply the same formula to UNC.

In 2014, the NCAA instituted a new rule regarding coaching oversight. It precludes coaches from playing the, "I did not know what was going on" card and requiring greater oversight and management by the coaches of their assistants, athletes, and respective programs. This is one of the critical components with respect to Larry Brown.

 

[Bonpland]

Relative to the NCAA and how they operate read (if you haven't already) John Feinstein's The Last Amateurs . He talks there about the hypocracy exhibited by many large "academic" schools when it comes to defending their athletic programs.

Duke, Stanford, Michigan and others may turn out top flight minds in several varied fields of study, but you'd be foolish to think that the starting point guard on the men's basketbal team, or any starter on the football team is in real danger of flunking out because their school has a reputation for academic excellence.

For the P-5 schools their men's power sports are money makers, and the players on those teams are student representatives that help their institutions to raise capital.

To paraphrase the comment that was made by a well known basketball coach when challenged by a reporter to justify his salary for it being more than ten times that of the Head of his University's English Department,

"When was the last time he brought twenty-five million dollars into this school?"

The NCAA oversees an enormous money making industry. They are supported by the institutions that they are asked to police. While fans may revel in the punishment that is handed down to a rival school, administrations are not interestred in encouraging sweeping punishments for "operational" violations.

If that kind of investigation goes too far and becomes routine then it is only a matter of time before it is everyone's turn in the hopper.

Big schools do everything that they can to "get an edge" and still not get caught cheating. That attitude propagates an atmoshere where no one wants to see standard operating procedures punished.

The NCAA provides cover for that type of approach. They spend money on TV commercials singing the praises of their student athletes, but the players who take the field for the power conferences are not held to the same standard as those from the smaller schools of all three divisions.

Like the young man from The Ohio State University said, he "didn't come here to play college."

The NCAA is adept at finding scapegoats, but not so good at taking down giants. They're going to have a real problem with North Carolina. Everybody knows what they did and they're going to have some explaining to do.

 

[UcMiami]

Bonpland - I would agree with everything except your inclusion of Stanford in the list - they say, and I truly believe they maintain at least their academic rigor in terms of admissions to the school. Once admitted, there are I am sure easier courses and harder courses of study as their are at any university, and I suspect many athletes choose the easier paths available to them as do many of the non athletes. As far as i can see, Stanford and the Ivy league schools are the only ones that haven't sold their soul amongst D1 schools - (that is actually unfair - I am sure there are other mid majors, but not that many that field football teams.)

 

[huskiemaniac]

NCAA really shows its stripes here doesn't it? I think they are in midst of investigation with UNC yes, but they had closed previous investigation if memory serves me correctly.... until they were forced to reopen it due to exposure of the UNC ills in the press..... NCAA can freely take swipes at easy targets like UNLV and SMU and folks they love to hit, but God Forbid, do not hit the darlings UNC oh no!!!

The NCAA also sent a former Carolina football player to take part in the initial investigation...against their own rules...

 

[RockyMTblue2]

What a crock. I'm not giving SMU a pass here by any means. You'd think that they would have learned something from the death penalty the NCAA gave its football program back in the 80s but I guess the corruption is just too deep.

But for the NCAA to let UNC slide while dropping the hammer on SMU in a relatively short period of time? Complete & utter BS IMO. And the bad thing is I don't believe the NCAA even realizes that every time they do something like this it further erodes its credibility.

100% accurate. Arrogance and who will take them on ... never underestimate either the stupidity or corruption of an entrenched bureaucracy.

 

[Blakeon18]

I heard that Dickie V [who normally is an avowed coach apologist...imo] say that 3 for 3 is good in baseball.
But Larry Brown's 3 for 3 [UCLA/Kansas/SMU probations] should get him banned from ever coaching in college again....I assume that means starting right now.

 

[Bonpland]

I'm not interestred in taking any coach's side in their dealings witht the NCAA because they know what their getting into when they sign their contracts, but I think the arbitrary way in which the NCAA appears to meter out punishment makes it, at the very least, confusing to understand just what will and what won't get you into trouble.

The rules governing the behavior of coaching staffs exist and are readily available to any and all interested parties, but understanding the manner in which they are enforced can be mind boggling.

A offensive tackle from a storied SEC programs graduates with a degree in comminications but can't find employment because it's later discovered that he can only read on a fifth grade level, and that news barely causes a stir with the NCAA. But an entire basketball program is put on probation (no post season play) because its players fails to maintain sufficient academic progress.

At both schools something is terribly wrong, but only one suffers when the rules governing the academic requirements for an athletic team are so haphazardly enforced.

North Carolina has historically had a strong reputation for academic excellence (in at least some fields of study), and they (the administration, the board of trustees, the alumni, the student body, the athletic department, et al) should be ashamed of what has taken place there for more than a decade, but in many ways they are just the ones who got caught.

The permissiveness exhibited relative to the abuse of academic standards by athletic departments has allowed, perhaps even encouraged, the hubris of the major players at NC in developing their "alternate' study programs for their student-athletes .

Schools make millions from successful athletic programs. Coaches are paid handsomely when they win, and are dismissed when they lose. Alumni contribute when the product on the field/court allows them to proudly tout their Alma Maters.

Every now and then a big name coach gets caught and he and his program is sanctioned, but by and large if a school fields winning teams the fan base doesn't really care whether or not their institution is playing by the rules.

The NCAA knows this and reacts accordingly. Sanctioning a major football program is bad for business; keeping a major draw off of TV hurts everyone in the trickle down world of big time college sports.

But along the way some kids who helped their schools to raise money go back to their home towns with worthless degrees and sometimes damaged bodies; unprepared to find careers, while the NCAA does little to address the systemic abuses that allowed their schools to use them to add capital to their operating budgets.

If and when NC gets punished AD's everywhere will gasp a sigh of relief and the NCAA will proclaim proudly that they've done their job, but the P-5 schools (and others) will continue to encourage their athletic departments to embrace the words of the late Al Davis. "Just Win Baby".

 

[JellyBean]

I was reading Jerry Tarkanian's book last year, Runnin Rebel, and we all know about his epic battle against the NCAA and their double standards against the Big programs vs the Little programs. Hearing the results of the NCAA banning SMU basketball for academic fraud an a host of other rules violations, reminded me of Tarkanian and his comments about how the Little program will be made an example of because of the Big program's screw up.

Now SMU is a not a small school. They are a Mid-Major program. What they did was wrong. But come on now. UNC was investigated over a year ago an it turns out they have 20 years of shady academic practices but yet they are not facing any bans, loss of records, suspension, loss of scholarships, or tagged with "lack of institutional control". I feel bad for places like the University of Mobile, home of the Rams. Two months of bad popcorn sells at the concession stand could get them into some serious trouble.

 

[triaddukefan]

I have no sympathy for SMU.... they should have known better when they hired Larry Brown. A leopard doesnt change its spots... especially when the spots are based off of that effeminate color of blue. The Carolina Way made a stop in Dallas ...

 

[ThisJustIn]

especially when the spots are based off of that effeminate color of blue.

Really? Perhaps you should rethink your attempted insult...