Amid scandal, schools reviewing themselves
The spate of arrests, details of under-the-table bribes to teenagers and the downfall of one of the sport’s best-known coaches have triggered uncomfortable soul-searching among the institutions at the heart of college basketball, including internal reviews by more than two dozen schools of their programs.
At stake is the future of a business that, over a span of 22 years ending in 2032, will produce $19.6 billion in TV money for the NCAA Tournament, known to the public as March Madness.
The NCAA distributes those billions to its conferences and universities, and that figure doesn’t include the millions splashed around by shoe companies, who play an outsized role in the success of the programs and the careers of some of the top players.
More than two dozen universities with major basketball programs — including Louisville, where Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino was fired Monday after 16 seasons — have responded to news of the sport’s bribery scandal by conducting internal reviews of their compliance operations.
The Associated Press asked 84 schools, including all the nation’s power programs, and six top conferences about their response to the arrests that upended college basketball days before practices for the 2017-18 season began around the country.
Of 64 schools that responded, 28 — including Cal and Stanford — said the probe prompted their internal reviews. So did the Pac-12 Conference, which formed a task force to dive into the culture and issues of recruiting.
In a statement, Cal’s athletic department said: “We regularly review compliance issues with all of our teams. And while we have a new men’s basketball staff at Cal, we felt that it would be appropriate to exercise our due diligence to review the recent issue with our coaches. No information we have seen or received has indicated any improprieties in this area.”
Among the other schools reviewing their programs are Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State and USC; each had assistant coaches who were arrested as part of the FBI’s sting.
The list also includes Alabama, where a review led to the resignation of basketball administrator Kobie Baker but unearthed no NCAA violations, according to school officials.
A representative from St. John’s said the NCAA directed all Division I schools to examine their programs for potential rules violations after the federal complaints were filed. The NCAA declined to comment when asked about that specific directive.
But last week, the NCAA formed a fact-finding commission to be led by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, with results expected in April — right around the time the NCAA Tournament ends.
“My only piece of advice (to young players): Don’t let the process ruin you because we will. I blame myself,” said head coach Tom Izzo of Michigan State, one of the schools conducting a review.
Izzo is convinced players’ circles grow too large as they near the big time and those circles fill with too many people with different agendas.
But in an illustration of wide-ranging perceptions of the issue, Michigan State’s cross-state rival, Michigan, said it isn’t conducting an internal review, and its head coach, John Beilein, said, “I don’t think the sky is falling in college basketball.”
Michigan, 35 other schools and the Big East Conference said they were not specifically responding to the federal probe. But many of the “no” responses came with the caveat that the school’s athletic department is always reviewing its compliance.
The vast majority of schools surveyed have shoe deals with Nike, Adidas or Under Armour. A top Adidas marketing executive was among the 10 people arrested, after authorities spent two years untangling schemes, often bankrolled with money from the apparel companies, to steer future NBA players toward particular sports agents and financial advisers. No players were accused of doing anything illegal, but any recruits found taking any improper benefits could lose eligibility to play.