LEXINGTON, Ky. — After some five years of suspension in NCAA investigatory limbo, the University of Louisville men’s basketball program is free at last.
In an NCAA case whose major allegation was that a then-U of L assistant was engaged with Adidas in a scheme to funnel $100,000 to the family of coveted recruit Brian Bowen, the Cardinals received no significant penalties.
In a ruling by the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process — an outside body set up to adjudicate complex cases — U of L men’s hoops received the following series of gentle slaps on the wrist:
— A two-year probation that runs until Nov. 2, 2024;
— A seven-day reduction in the number of recruiting-person days for 2022-23;
— A two-week ban on unofficial visits during the 2022-23 school year;
— A two-week ban on recruiting communication (telephonic and written) during the 2022-23 academic year;
— A $5,000 fine.
For a school that was alleged to have been involved in a plan to buy a recruit — at a time when that was still unquestionably an NCAA no-no — while already on probation for having provided strippers/escorts for high school prospects in a previous scandal, it was a remarkably light penalty.
That, of course, has been consistent in cases handled so far by the IARP. Set up to minimize perceived conflicts of interests in the NCAA judicial process by bringing in people from outside the college sports hierarchy to judge cases, the IARP has so far served to primarily minimize penalties.
My initial reaction to the outcome of the U of L case — which one can still observe on my Twitter feed — is that the lack of significant penalties for a repeat offender accused of major NCAA rules violations in back-to-back scandals was a “joke.”
Based on the rulings the IARP has rendered in the cases of U of L, Memphis and North Carolina State, it seems obvious that those serving do not understand how college sports corruption actually works.
Nevertheless, on longer reflection, I think those who argue that the five years Louisville men’s basketball spent dangling with no NCAA resolution to its case was sufficient punishment for U of L’s malfeasance have a fair point.
After the FBI investigation went public in 2017, U of L cleaned house of those who had presided over back-to-back major men’s basketball scandals. That meant giving both Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino and athletics director Tom Jurich, a Louisville sports icon, pink slips.
That began a period of U of L basketball instability that has seen the Cardinals' historically proud program employ five different head coaches — three full-time head men and two interim coaches — since 2017.
A top-10, all-time brand in men’s college hoops, Louisville has not won a single NCAA Tournament game since the FBI scandal came to light on Sept. 26, 2017. The Cardinals have only played in the NCAA tourney once in that time frame — a first-round loss to Minnesota in 2018-19.
As for no postseason ban, maybe the IARP looked at the 57-47 loss Louisville absorbed to NCAA Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University in an exhibition game Sunday and figured exiling the 2022-23 Cardinals from March Madness would be redundant.
There’s also a case to be made that the landscape of college sports has changed so dramatically that, if Adidas in 2022 wanted to help a client school such as U of L acquire the services of a player such as Bowen with a six-figure payment, it probably could do so via a name, image and likeness agreement.
That reality makes it harder to justify retroactively punishing schools whose personnel were allegedly involved in pay-for-play schemes that could now be set up, if not within the letter of NCAA rules, within the difficult-to-punish gray area of the rule book.
The fact that former Louisville head man and current Iona Gaels coach Rick Pitino received no sanction for having presided over a second major scandal in a two-year period as Cardinals coach may clear the way for a major-conference, university president to justify hiring the now-70-year-old during the next coaching carousel.
Meanwhile, Pitino’s successor, Chris Mack was facing allegations of NCAA rules violations from his time at Louisville related to the utilization of illegal recruiting materials and the use of unauthorized personnel in practices.
Mack also emerged unscathed by the IARP.
It was ex-Pitino assistants Jordan Fair and Kenny Johnson who took the fall for U of L. Both were given two-year show-cause penalties by the IARP panel for Level I violations primarily related to the Bowen recruitment.
Unquestionably, Thursday was a banner day for Louisville fans, who have essentially been supporting a program under the cloud of major scandals since 2015.
Even more so, it was a positive for new Cardinals men’s hoops coach Kenny Payne. Payne will now have the opportunity to recruit without the uncertainty of a seemingly never-ending NCAA investigation hanging over his head.
That is vital for U of L because Payne certainly appears to have a roster in dire need of a talent upgrade.
Moving forward into an era of liberalized rules on amateurism and uncertain NCAA regulatory authority, one would like to think Louisville’s run as America’s premier “school for scandal” is, at long last, finally over.
