NCAA Basketball: How can the NCAA recover from this corruption scandal?

After an FBI probe into NCAA basketball’s recruiting practices uncovered a corruption scandal, the league faces an uphill battle to restore its reputation and trust.

Trust is everything. In the world of sports, trust can be the difference between growing a fan base and losing it. One result of this week’s FBI investigation into NCAA Basketball’s corruption was a loss of trust for many of the game’s fans.

While it is important to discuss how to handle the coaches, student-athletes, and shoe companies currently involved, an even bigger challenge facing the NCAA is restoring trust in the game of college basketball.

People already had the belief that the big schools cheated, but after the latest news that Louisville’s head coach, Rick Pitino, may be directly involved in paying recruits, these beliefs were validated for many. There is still a lot of information that will be uncovered, and more individuals are going to be implicated, but that doesn’t change the trust lost in college sports.

So how should the NCAA move to restore the lost trust?

Well, the first step would be to come down hard on any and all programs, coaches, and players that are involved in this scandal. For schools with multiple violations, like Louisville, this could mean a potential ban on all men’s basketball activities. For other schools, like Arizona and Oklahoma State, this could mean a temporary postseason ban and loss of scholarships. Any player or coach found to be directly involved should also be considered for a potential ban from NCAA men’s basketball.

By bringing the hammer down, the NCAA would send a message to its member schools, athletes, and fans that it will no longer allow schools to get away with cheating.  To address the eligible athletes that are on these guilty teams, the NCAA could possibly grant a waiver to allow them to transfer and play immediately.

Once this message is sent, the NCAA will need to work on a way to prevent this situation from happening again. It is easy to be reactive in punishing a cheating party, but fans want a proactive system that works to prevent cheating from happening.

To address this, I would suggest that the NCAA contract with a third-party audit or investigation firm, whose pay isn’t linked to the financial success of college sports. This firm would be tasked with monitoring the practices of the NCAA’s teams to ensure compliance with all league rules.

It is important that this group of auditors and investigators are not financially tied to the NCAA so that fans and coaches can trust their judgment. Clearly, the NCAA has not done a good enough job at policing itself and an unaffiliated group would at least give the impression that they are objective.

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In the end, however, teams and coaches are going to try and find new ways to beat the system and win games. It is ultimately the NCAA’s duty to ensure that they are trying to stay ahead of these trends, and swiftly put them to an end.