Another academic scandal; UNC is f-cked

My theory is NCAA people wanted to do something like a postseason ban or take banners down. They have to know how terrible this looks.

But UNC probably threatened to fight it to the death in court and the NCAA didn't want to go through that and didn't want a repeat of Penn State where they end up reversing some of the sanctions.

So they go with UNC'S version of things. A total chicken shit move.

 

I wouldn't mind some kind of new law, federal level, that says if your institution receives federal funding of any kind, then:

You are not allowed to take shoe/apparel money.
No naming rights fees.
No salaries / benefits greater than the institution's president.
Investigations handled by the FBI.
NC$$ disbanded.

 

I think this theory is probably fairly accurate.

My perspective is that NCAA enforcement staff thought they could get a pelt more easily by taking the improper benefits approach because ultimately proving academic fraud is a bitch when the fundamental question is whether these irregular classes were rigorous enough and there is wide variance within member institutions and among member institutions when it comes to academic quality.

But the problem with improper benefits is that the bylaws are fairly clear that if it is available to regular students, and not just athletes, it's not on its face improper. Fifty some percent of the enrollments in the irregular classes were non-athletes.

Based on the approach the NCAA took, UNC was always going to come out OK, unless the NCAA was ready to hammer UK and KU over the luxury dorms they built for basketball players (and a small handful of regular students).

 

I supposes this might explain the lengthy delay. Otherwise, what would? If the presence of non-athletes in the sham classes supposedly deprived the NCAA of authortity to impose punishment, then it should've been able to quickly decide this years ago. But your theory that they were equivocating simply because too chickenshit of the consequences of UNC fighting back does make some sense...

But I might suggest another possibility is the NCAA was just waiting for the short-attention-spanned public to lose interest. If they'd rendered this decision a couple years ago--when everybody was still much talking about the story--it would've been met with a much louder national response. But the NCAA delayed for years, until most had forgotten about it, before a Friday drop of a decision that would now outrage only the few still paying attention.

 

As long as every Tar Heel stands for the anthem.

 

FTFY.

 

Might be a bit harsh, but fuck them.

 

I reject the suggestion that there is no substantive difference between offering powder-puff majors like Apparel Studies and Residential Property Management to athletes - something that the NCAA says, correctly IMO, that it can't wade into - and giving athletes grades for sham classes they didn't attend, based on papers that, in many cases, they didn't write, the professor didn't grade and the office assistant who graded them didn't read. That's not wading into the swamp of what constitutes a legitimate area of academic inquiry. That's preventing unscrupulous people from gaming the system. If we aren't prepared to protect the system from that kind of conduct, there's no system to protect.

 

It feels weird even kinda sorta defending Calipari and Co., but Memphis was declared to have used an ineligible player and vacated a Final Four season because Derrick Rose probably cheated on his SAT.

How were there not dozens of UNC athletes ruled ineligible and seasons forfeited?

 

That’s not defending Calipari, that’s indicting the NCAA. Besides, vacating a win or season is ridiculous. Vacating a championship is different. THey should have vacated Kansas Championship because Memphis should not have been allowed to play. SOme of Those vacated wins came at the expense of teams who, theoretically, would have advanced had Derrick Rose and John Calipari not cheated. SO Kansas CHampionship is based on a fraud.

 

Hey, the NCAA should be down on its knees thanking Kansas for beating UNC and Memphis in that Final Four, thus preventing the shamiest of all sham championships. (And should definitely not look any further into whether or not Darrell Arthur's high school teacher changed a grade for him )

 

Huh? Kansas is penalized because some other school cheated?

Cleveland State would like to have a word with you.