Last week, the NCAA cleared UNC of any potential violations surrounding what many have called the most egregious case of academic fraud in the history of college athletics. When the news broke, the most irate fanbase wasn't that of instate rivals Duke or NC State, but the beleaguered fans at the University of Louisville, and rightfully so.
I'm a Louisville guy through and through. I grew up going to men's basketball games, mostly during the lean years of the 1990s, when Rick Pitino was hanging banners in Rupp Arena for the University of Kentucky. I attended U of L in the mid-2000s, and with Pitino now coaching Louisville, the program reached its first Final Four in almost two decades. I was a grad student in Georgia when Louisville finally won the title in Atlanta's Georgia Dome, ending nearly three decades of disappointment. It was the happiest moment of my sporting life.
Then came the scandals. Assistant Coach Andre McGee had hired strippers/prostitutes to "entertain" current players and recruits in the athletic dorms. It was tawdry, embarrassing, and immoral, and as an alumnus and lifelong fan of the program, I felt a sense of personal shame.
Still, I tried to defend it to some degree. It's a natural response. And was happy to see that the university admitted to wrong-doing and took steps to punish itself -- including a postseason ban -- not just because I hoped it would reduce the inevitable NCAA punishment, but because it was the right thing to do.
The NCAA apparently disagreed, and over the summer hit Louisville with severe punishments that stunned not only the university, but much of the sports world as well. Louisville is set to be the first basketball program in NCAA history to be stripped of its championship banner.
And it only got worse. In the fall, Louisville was implicated in a larger FBI investigation, and the evidence clearly shows that, under the direction of Louisville coaches, Adidas paid players to attend the university. This is a clear violation of NCAA rules, and the university acted quickly to dismiss Pitino and prepared to fire Athletic Director Tom Jurich. Again, Louisville acted preemptively to appease the NCAA.
As a fan, I'm often asked about my feelings on the issue. My response has essentially been that we're guilty and should be punished accordingly. Ideally, NCAA rules regarding the recruitment and treatment of current and prospective players are meant to ensure an equal playing field among universities, and to protect student from exploitation (at least more than what the NCAA currently sanctions). We broke those rules. We have it coming.
After the UNC rulings, my attitudes have changed. If the NCAA comes for Louisville's 2013 banner, they can pry it from my cold, dead hands. Alternatively, I'm willing to trade it for three of UNC's (2005, 2009, 2017).
As a Louisville fan and alum, my outrage over the UNC case comes from a perception that the NCAA distributes justice unequally and applies its rules arbitrarily. Given the nature of the two schools' violations, that's a reasoned response.
An unreasoned response is that of UNC students, fans, and alums. From what I can tell, the mood is one of relief and joy. On the one hand, I understand they feel good to have dodged a bullet. But they don't seem to realize they dodged that bullet by jumping in front of a cannonball.
Where is the sense of shame for the manner in which they skated charges? UNC admitted to offering fake courses to student for nearly two decades, but because these courses were available to all students and not just athletes, they weren't guilty of violating NCAA rules on the special treatment for athletes. While that may be technically true, consider what the defense really means: UNC is innocent of NCAA violations because they committed widespread academic fraud rather than narrower, case-by-case fraud.
Astounding.
Were I a student or alum of UNC, I would be furious. The university was willing to trade on its academic reputation to preserve its athletic prowess.
And look. I get it. College sports matter. They're exciting. They're a rallying point for those associated with the school, and a lightning rod for fostering school spirit and attracting donations.
But universities don't exist to provide sports entertainment. They exists to advance knowledge through research and education, much nobler though less discussed goals. To sacrifice that is nothing less than shameful, especially for UNC, which U.S. News ranks the fifth best public university in the country.
For all the embarrassment Louisville's indiscretions have brought to its alums, they never cheapened the value of our degrees or our education. I went to the 87th best public university, and even I can see that. Maybe its time we re-evaluate those rankings, or even UNC's accreditation status, because a school so willing to brazenly defraud its students should be punished, even if its basketball team seemingly can't be or never will.
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