Kemba Walker and UConn may have completed their March of Destruction in ugly fashion, and it will not only go down as one of the greatest achievements in recent college basketball history—an 11-game sweep of the Big East and NCAA Tournaments—but it will also cement John Calhoun’s legacy as one of the greatest coaches of all time.
Hyperbole? Try again. Calhoun has now reached four Final Fours, and won three NCAA titles. The list of coaches who have done that is pretty short—John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Adolph Rupp and Bob Knight. That’s it. No Dean Smith, no Pete Newell, no Jim Boeheim. Calhoun also has a claim to longevity, one spot removed from the top five in all-time Division I wins.
On the one hand, another title and all of the concomitant acclaim are well-deserved. There is a lot to love about Calhoun: his personal toughness, his wry sense of humor, his former players’ adoration and, most importantly, their respect. Most college basketball fans should be thrilled for the three-time cancer survivor, a man who is a symbol of perseverance and fortitude to the faint and despondent everywhere (just ignore his exorbitant salary).
Still, heartwarming success does not excuse impropriety, and this has certainly been a season of impropriety. For those who’ve grown tired of reading the stories about violations in college sports, here is the SparkNotes version.
The NCAA and UConn have been investigating the basketball program since 2009, when a report surfaced about a former team manager, Josh Nochimson, giving a recruit, Nate Miles, lodging, transportation, meals, and other benefits. The investigation was thought to have ended already, with the program on probation this year and the next. The penalties? Loss of one scholarship each year and minor recruiting limitations. Oh, and Calhoun misses three games of Big East play NEXT year.
So despite a failure “to promote an atmosphere of compliance,” UConn was not barred from any postseason play. This meager penalty is particularly galling in light of the fact that the investigation is not over. A story in the New York Times last week revealed that Miles might now comply with the NCAA investigation (he refused to be interviewed before). That could spell trouble for Calhoun and the Huskies, since Miles has come out saying that Calhoun knew about the benefits Miles was receiving.
Does this mean Miles is telling the truth? Of course not. He could be using the Huskies’ run to insert himself in national conversation and reap some profits—he is admittedly broke. Yet that is beside the point, for it is clear that UConn has committed an infraction. This is not a matter of waiting for guilt to be proven, it is a question of degree of guilt. This is also the latest example of a team cheating and still competing for major rewards (of both the trophy and the cash varieties).
This past year has been littered with victorious charlatans.
How about Calhoun’s first opponent in the Final Four, John Calipari, who has seen his two previous appearances vacated (while he moved on to bigger and better jobs).
Or the ninth-seeded team in UConn’s West Region, the Tennessee Volunteers, coached by Bruce Pearl. Pearl had been a quasi-pariah for naming names to the NCAA, but then he admitted to deception of his own. He held onto his job at first, but when his team imploded in the first round he was shown the door.
Basketball, of course, is just one of the two major cash cows. In fact, it is football’s little brother. What’s that you say? USC was suspended from postseason play? The NCAA must be doing it right when it comes to football then.
No such luck.
Your 2011 National Champion? The Auburn Tigers, led by Cam Newton, who sold his talents to the highest bidder. Oh wait, that was allegedly just his father, who was miraculously allowed to attend the title game nonetheless.
Then there is the 2011 Sugar Bowl Champ, Ohio State, and its indefatigable coach, Jim Tressel. Five Buckeyes received improper benefits from a tattoo parlor, but their suspensions were put off until the beginning of the 2011 season, easing Ohio State’s way to the Sugar Bowl (and a fat BCS payday). It later came out that Tressel knew about this and lied about knowing. He has only been suspended for two games and fined $250,000 (keep in mind that the guy earns $3.5 million a year).
All of these various infractions demonstrate a culture of rampant deception in the major sports of Division I collegiate athletics. This is not revelatory or shocking, most fans know it and willfully ignore it. Some know it and have no solution. Still others argue that players are being taken advantage of anyway, so people trying to support them are not immoral. I agree with that basic sentiment (collegiate athletes are unpaid labor), but the real problem is that the punishments are ineffectual, thus conveying the message that one can break the rules and get away with it. This allows programs to continue to evade restriction, creating an uneven playing field.
Recruiting violations seem to be most common in the power conferences and programs. It is only logical—that is where the pressure to succeed is most significant. You don’t see Butler or VCU or our very own Columbia paying players (at least we hope).
What this means is that the problem is less the cheating itself, which is endemic, and more the perpetuation of unfairness and inequality. Teams will keep cheating so long as the punishments are not rigorous, and those doing the cheating are already at the top of the game. Think Ohio State will reform its practices because of such minor suspensions? No. What about UConn? Forget about it.
The NCAA has to start enforcing more postseason bans and harsher recruiting limitations if it wants to deter cheating.
The championship game featured two inspiring coaches, but also one that followed NCAA guidelines and one that flouted them.
Both would have been good stories, but the wrong team won.
Lucas Shaw is a Columbia College senior majoring in political science.
COMMENTS
Comments will be moderated in accordance with our comment policy