North Carolina. South Carolina. Tennessee. Georgia. Kentucky. Alabama. USC.
All seven schools have recently run afoul of the NCAA for various infractions, from providing improper benefits to players to improper contact with agents.
As many as 16 Tar Heel football players had their eligibility threatened as a result of the infractions.
The Trojans’ football team cannot attend a bowl game for two years.
Volunteers head basketball coach Bruce Pearl is not allowed to recruit players off-campus and lost $1.5 million in salary.
The Wildcats are looking at a lost Elite Eight season after star guard Eric Bledsoe’s high school transcript was called into question.
In theory, the rule book on amateurism and eligibility is meant to be followed to the letter. In practice, it’s much easier to succumb to temptations and cut corners. These seven schools did. They are paying the price.
That’s why Oregon fans should not dismiss news of an internal investigation into alleged improprieties with extra benefits that might retroactively affect the eligibility of several men’s basketball players.
At the center of the controversy is, fittingly, former center Michael Dunigan, now signed to a professional contract in Israel.
Speculation runs rampant that Dunigan may have been forced out of the program after accepting gifts he should have declined.
The Oregonian and the Register-Guard both reported that four other players — Drew Wiley, Josh Crittle, Matt Humphrey and Jamil Wilson — who transferred out of the program after head coach Ernie Kent was fired, may face eligibility issues with their new teams.
At first glance, it would appear that the house of cards Kent had built up after an Elite Eight appearance in 2007 has come toppling down. Kent was known to have connections to influential people such as William “World Wide Wes” Wesley, who produced recruiting matches and, eventually, letters of intent. The Ducks would be well-served to check over the recruitment of players such as Dunigan, Wilson, Malik Hairston, Aaron Brooks and others to check how rotten the foundation really is.
Additionally, newly installed athletic director Rob Mullens ought to pay head football coach Chip Kelly a visit and make sure that the fifth-ranked Ducks are waddling in step with NCAA rules.
Vin Lananna (track and field) and Paul Westhead (women’s basketball) ought to receive some phone calls as well.
Every coach in the department should. Mullens was handed the keys to the athletic department in August, and he must spend September and October thoroughly examining everything under the hood.
Oregon is a potential target because of its very close relationship with a certain high-profile booster who also happens to manufacture and sell athletic equipment and apparel. Said booster also has contracts with what seems like half the NCAA member institutions and has great sporting influence across the globe.
Perhaps because of this, the athletic department can seem “above” an NCAA investigation. After all, it’s not Oregon’s fault that Phil Knight — and Pat Kilkenny, and other high-profile donors — spends so much of his own money to build opulent, state-of-the-art facilities and provide the best uniforms and other equipment money can possibly buy.
What do you do when someone wants to give you hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars toward a specific investment?
The answer is that you make sure your affairs are in order.
The athletic department came under major scrutiny this past school year after Mike Bellotti was reported to have worked without a contract as athletic director. He, and other high-profile coaches and administrators, it would turn out.
Oregon’s previous response to public records requests was to simply toss them aside or file them into the nearest garbage can. Now, the athletic department has much better turn-around time and openness into its inner workings.
Mullens and his staff would be best served with a thorough internal investigation before the NCAA decides to step in for them. Too many people want to keep Oregon off that list of seven schools.
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