Cheating in the NCAA? No way… Derrick Rose and the Memphis SAT Scandal

Most of you have probably heard the recent news about how former Memphis guard Derrick Rose may have had an ineligible SAT score when he was admitted into Memphis - making their 38 win season (in which they lost to Kansas in a thrilling final) a fraud.

I first ask myself, how did he pull this off?  Did he send a member from his posse in to take the SAT for him?  Did his future agent somehow bribe the College Board into faking his scores?  Did Memphis straight up lie about his scores and admit him into their premier academic institution anyways?

If you are the best basketball recruit in the country, how dumb do you have to be to get an SAT score that doesn’t meet Memphis’s standards?  Even the Ivy League schools curb their requirements for athletes.  It’ll be interesting to see how the investigation unfolds and why his scores were invalid.

In defense to Memphis, they were purportedly notified in May 2008 -  one month after their season ended in a heartbreaking overtime loss to Kansas (gotta make your free throws!) - that Rose’s scores may have been invalid.  They are playing the ignorance card.  If this is in fact true, I don’t think there will be many repercussions for them.

That being said, this stuff happens everywhere.  There’s not a single school in the country that doesn’t break at least one of the rules on the endless list of NCAA violations.  I just finished up my senior year at USC, the winningest school in NCAA history (if you count football), and they’re in the midst of a university wide investigation by the NCAA because of “lack of institutional control” stemming from the Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo/Tim Floyd scandals.

In case you are uninformed, former Heisman running back, Reggie Bush and his family, allegedly received payments from (at the time) his future agent, and head USC basketball coach, Tim Floyd, allegedly gave $1000 in cash (among other things) to some shady individual connected to star basketball player OJ Mayo’s inner circle.  The NCAA recently combined the two investigations and deemed it a university wide investigation because the school may have lost “institutional control.”  What does that mean?  Our president, Steven Sample, gets axed?

News flash: this stuff happens everywhere!  Some schools are better at hiding it than others.  Some teams within schools are better at hiding it than others.  USC’s football team is better at concealing their shady doings than the basketball team, who lets agents roam around the basketball offices.

Where did OJ Mayo (who, according to Floyd, couldn’t afford the cell phone bill that would ensue if schools had his number) get the money to pay for his wheels, plasma TV, chains, watches, clothes and basketball tickets to a Nuggets/Lakers game!?

Remember that?  During OJ Mayo’s only season at USC, his “close friend” Carmelo Anthony gave him tickets to the Nuggets/Lakers game when Denver was in town.  The NCAA deemed that a violation and made OJ pay the value of the tickets to a charity.  At the time, I discussed the incident with an individual high up in USC’s athletic program and he said, “OJ can afford that.  He’s got money.”

We see stuff like this happen everywhere.  It’s funny how the NCAA discovers it after the player has left the school and not while he’s attending the school.  I have a theory on why.  Continue reading to find out my theory.

Money and politics.  If the NCAA were to rule Reggie Bush and USC’s football team ineligible, it would be a huge hit to the NCAA’s wallet.  USC has one of the most prolific football teams in the history of all football (yes including the NFL).  At the time of the alleged wrongdoings, some argued that they were the best team in college history.  And they were in the midst of a historical season (undefeated and averaging 50 points a game) and a collision course with Texas in what turned out to be one of the best football games ever played.

Every year, USC has numerous games on national television.  They are one of the most recognized and marketable faces of the NCAA.  If the NCAA ruled USC ineligible, they would lose a lot of money.  People pay to see the big dogs.

The PGA was getting hammered when Tiger woods was out with his knee injury.  When the Spurs and Pistons were in the NBA Finals, nobody watched.  Why did baseball turn its back on steroids for so long?  The game was getting more exciting.   In every sport, professional and college, people want to see the top talent.  If the league gets rid of the top talent, they feel the pain as well.

Why do you think the NCAA waited to report Memphis’s possible cheating?  They had one of the best, most exciting players in college basketball and were having an epic 38-win season.  The overtime title game was one of the best college basketball games of the decade.

As long as there is so much money surrounding sports, stuff like this will continue to go on.  Maybe its time we start allowing the compensation of college athletes beyond tuition, room, board, and a $1300/month stipend.  If we deemed it acceptable for agents to pay college athletes and their families, we wouldn’t have to worry about these scandals and the NCAA could save money on all these investigations.

But that could lead to a whole slew of other problems that I don’t want to discuss right now.

What’s your take on the way the NCAA is operating?  Have your say below!