NCAA Basketball: It is time to drop “the hammer”

Now that the NCAA is beginning to get a clearer picture of who was involved in the college basketball corruption case, it is time for the league to take a strong stance.

For the past few months, the FBI has been putting together evidence which implicates agents, players, coaches and programs were involved in the widespread NCAA basketball corruption case.

This morning, Yahoo! Sports’ Pat Forde and Pete Thamel reported that these documents show potential recruiting violations for as many as 20 schools and over two dozen players, past and present. With evidence now piling up, it may be time for the NCAA to start reviewing this evidence for themselves and discussing potential punishments once the evidence is solidifies.

While the NCAA will obviously look to vacate wins and suspend coaches, a stronger message is needed. A message that will hurt the NCAA temporarily in order to promote its commitment to the integrity of the sport.

While vacating wins, midseason coach suspensions and limiting scholarships may be adequate punishments for smaller recruiting violations, the magnitude of this NCAA corruption scandal warrant a much more intense punishment.

It may be worthwhile to consider the idea of banning each program directly involved from competing in the postseason.

While banning so many top teams from Conference and NCAA tournaments in the same season will most likely result in a decreased revenue, it will also show that the NCAA cares more about the sport than the cash.

Obviously, the NCAA would first need to determine which programs had knowledge of the corruption, and allow those with no knowledge to receive a lesser punishment. However, if any member of the program’s coaches, staff, or athletic department knew about these benefits and meetings, they should immediately be suspended by the league for at least a season and the program should be hit with a postseason ban.

“That sounds a bit harsh, Connor. Why should we ruin the experience for fans and current players?” Yes this would make for an NCAA Tournament with a slightly lower level of play, and the current players on these teams would get the short end of the stick, but we can’t let this corruption go without punishment.

Next: NCAA governing body needs reform

If the NCAA determines that vacated wins and scholarship limitations are enough, that is their decision. Just know that this will continue to happen until the consequences of getting caught outweigh the benefits of participating in the corruption.