Louisville Basketball Recruiting Scandal

On the front pages of sports sections across America this morning are the headlines of the University of Louisville basketball recruiting violations allegations. Under the cloud of these allegations and the ongoing investigation, the University of Louisville has decided to self-impose a postseason playing ban. Allegations are that a former staffer paid for strippers to dance and have sex with recruits.

This post is not about the allegations. This blogger thinks the wrong people get punished when the punishment is a ban from playing in the post season. The NCAA should come up with ways to punish schools and staff members who violate recruiting rules. Banning the school from tournament play punishes those who had nothing to do with rule breaking. Athletes currently on the team had nothing to do with allegations. School adminstrators should always have their eyes and ears open and should be held accountable for overseeing staff. This blogger thinks the NCAA should hit the school in the pocketbook hard enough to discourage this type of behavior. Punish those who should be overseeing recruitment not the student athletes who are there for an education and the opportunity to participate in the basketball program. The current punishment also penalizes athletes who are not on scholarship since they will not get to play in the post season tournament.

If $ came out of the paychecks of coaches, athletic directors and those supervising recruitment these types of events are less likely to occur. Banning the team from tournament play punishes players and fans who had nothing to do with the violations and lets those who should be held accountable off the hook.