Tennessee and Arizona State open the season under a cloud of suspicion. Might as well make that a thundercloud. Both football programs have been accused of bringing in recruits for visits during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period.
If true, that’s not only an NCAA rules violation but a moral failing. The coaches at the two schools would have made the conscious decision to put their staffs and players, plus the recruits and their families, at a health risk.
In the case of Tennessee, there are 18 Level 1 violations included in the NCAA Notice of Allegations. Former coach Jeremy Pruitt and his wife allegedly pitched in a portion of $60,000 out of their own pockets to bring prospects to Knoxville.
Sooner or later, the NCAA Board of Directors must decide whether any of it matters. The byword of an association whose role is diminishing by the day is “deregulation.” That philosophy was supposed to make things simpler, less complicated.
Eighteen Level 1 violations? Meh. Let someone else worry about it. Perhaps it isn’t going to be the NCAA as the board considers allowing divisions and conferences oversee themselves. But for now, let’s stick to what script exists to follow.
On Wednesday, the NCAA Council is due to recommend to the board measures that would streamline the enforcement process. Where have we heard that before? Innocent athletes have been unfairly impacted — probation, postseason bans — by the sins of their coaches and boosters for decades. It was unfair and it was awful.
I once asked a former member of the infractions committee once why innocent athletes were often punished. He basically answered, Someone has to suffer.
This time, change has to be real because, well, there is little recourse. The courts are closing in on the NCAA. Name, image and likeness legislation led to players hiring managers and agents. Revenue sharing is right around the corner. The NCAA is the process of gracefully stepping off the stage, leaving college athletics to schools, administrators, and yes, those professional influencers.
But the enforcement process supposedly is going to remain in some form, just not like what we’re used to seeing. That’s why the season should begin with high hopes at Tennessee and Arizona State that have little to do with football.
You see, in rewriting and condensing the NCAA Constitution earlier this year, the association went out of its way to state,…
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