Criminal charges shed light on the sport’s underbelly. Will it be a wake-up call?
When I joined faculty colleagues at Michigan State earlier this year in an effort to stop the university from investigating itself regarding the Nassar sexual assault case (we failed), we acted for a reason. We believe that no school (or association, for that matter, like the NCAA) should investigate itself in a criminal matter. There’s simply too much self-interest and–let’s be frank–careers, brand reputation, and money on the line.
There’s plenty of all three in big-time college sports–way too much for a non-profit, educational enterprise. Yes, the NCAA–a member organization–engages in due diligence all the time. But the NCAA focuses–as it should–on the potential violation of NCAA infractions.
That’s not the storyline this time. Starting in 2015 the FBI began investigating college basketball. The focus was on potential corruption, acceptance of bribes, receipt of kickbacks, and collusion among parties. Those things are about breaking laws, not just breaking NCAA rules. That’s why the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department got involved.
The alleged transgressors aren’t just those who are inside the game, employees of the universities. Outsiders include sports agents, money managers, and athletic apparel companies. Those parties stand to profit handsomely if and when things move “in a certain direction.” And they found a weak link in the chain–an access point to the system–assistant coaches, who are both close to the action and (because they don’t make big money) are bribable.
“You can make millions off of one kid,” Christian Dawkins, 24, Atlanta, GA, a sports agent and business manager, from wiretaps of Dawkins’ phone.
The alleged activity took place at high-end schools. We’ve seen that before in both basketball and football, at places like University of North Carolina, Syracuse, and Baylor. That pattern continues. The Justice Department is now bringing charges against schools in The Sporting News pre-season team Top 25, including #1 Arizona, #6 Louisville, #15 USC, and #21 Miami. That says problems have penetrated the sport’s upper-echelon.
It’s not as though scandal is new to college basketball. One of my first memories of the sport was the point-shaving scandal of 1951–a scandal that enveloped a number of New York City-area schools and involved players at those schools and beyond. And, then, there’s Sonny Vaccaro. Starting in the 1980’s Vacarro established a link between apparel companies and grassroots (and beyond) basketball. When asked Wednesday about how long this type of untoward behavior has been going on in basketball, Vaccaro told ESPN: “I think forever.”
What’s it all mean? In personal terms, I’m a fan and spend a good share of my time from November-April following and cheering for my teams. But I’ve also been writing about how schools need to elevate their game–not on the court or on the field–but in the area of taking greater social responsibility for their operations. Too much emphasis is placed on winning, making money, and enhancing the brand. But there’s more to having a “good” program than those three things. That’s obvious now.
Pro sports–the corporate enterprises we often cast as villains–seem able to handle their affairs. Higher education (a social institution) struggles when it comes to managing big-time sports.
So what’s next? Is it a wake-up call for higher education and college sports? Will they respond mildly by taking a few actions and waiting for the heat to subside? Or will this scandal trigger real, big, and needed change?
I hope it’s the later. But if that happens it will require more than firing coaches, ADs. and convicting transgressors. It will require a top-to-bottom clean-up of a sport where money has corrupted the core.
What might a restructured sport look like? I’ll speak to that question in my October 5 column.
