ShareThisUntil the NCAA gets serious about handing out stiffer penalties, coaches tweaking the recruiting rules will simply remain a way of life.
That was the thought that came out of the NCAA's decision to place Connecticut on three years' probation because of rules violations stemming from the crazy chase to get Nate Miles in a Husky uniform. The UConn coaching staff admitted to placing too many phone calls, sending too many text messages and not stopping former team manager-turned NBA agent Josh Nochimson from playing a large role in the recruitment of Miles.
We can endlessly debate how serious these violations were. I think excessive phone calls, emails and texts are a plague that stretches everywhere, although maybe not to that degree (supposedly more than 2,000 phone calls). But if the NCAA finds someone's hand in the cookie jar, it is high time they slap them hard. That did not happen in UConn's case.
Sure, legendary coach Jim Calhoun will be embarrassed by the public censure, and the fact he has to sit out three games next year isn't good. But it doesn't damage UConn's program at all. The one consistent penalty the NCAA likes to apply in its most serious cases is a loss of scholarships. In this case, UConn is docked one scholarship in each of the next three years. Yawn.
So Calhoun can have 12 players on scholarship instead of 13. That's what he's doing this season and he has a team ranked around the Top 10!
Maybe the Miles case doesn't deserve stiffer penalties. That's for the NCAA to decide. But if it wants to come down hard, how about capping a dirty school's scholarships at 10 for three years? Now that's a penalty.
(Contact Kevin McNamara at kmcnamar(at)projo.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit The Providence Journal
