Deadspin article on NCAA ruining Silvio’s college careers

However, he does deny ever receiving $20,000 from Gassnola. Still, the most compelling argument he makes is that at no point did the FBI come knocking on his door to talk to him about Gassnola’s wire fraud case because they didn’t have any reason to. Nevertheless, the NCAA persisted with its ruling.

Interesting point. On one hand, the FBI never needed to corroborate that payment because Gassnola was the accused and he admitted to the crime. Meanwhile, the NCAA was happy to use the non-corroborated info to assume guilt. Seems to me that $20,000 is pretty easy to track as long as it wasn't cash stuffed into a mattress. Were there bank deposits? Major purchases?

Serious questions. Not just trying to make a point.

1. Will this decision be the turning point for college basketball recruiting? Will everyone point to the trial testimony, and to this DeSousa result as absurd, and demand change?

2. If this was Kentucky (or for us KU fans, Mizzou) getting ruled against, would we all feel the same way? Or would we laugh and say "finally, they got what was coming to them." Like I'm sure the rest of the hoops world is doing to KU right now.

Good questions. My 2 cents (speaking for myself only)":

1.) No. There will be sneaky boosters out there who will be willing to funnel money to basketball and football players. Change won't come based on this because there will always be supply and demand. Supply of money being channeled into sketchy AAU programs (which are funded by shoe companies), and demand from players who (or who's parents or guardians) are more than willing to take the cash. In addition, while an affluent kid's parents might be more willing to turn their nose up on proffers of free cash, that's not going to be the case when Mom and/or Dad has trouble making ends meet, and the nice man from SHOE COMPANY arranges for your car to get repaired or to help you pay some overdue bills. Sure, some kids are taking cash and living the high life, but others are in rough conditions and the money is in desperate need.

2.) Yes, of course, if this was Calimari under the gun, I'd be doing a happy dance. But he's also earned my ire by wrecking 2 other programs in his wake. If it was K at Duke, I'd be saying that it's justice based on the favoritism they've gotten over the years. UNC? You betcha! Almost 2 decades of fake classes? Self, to my knowledge, has been seen as pretty "clean" over his career. Nevertheless, while I'd be celebrating the downfall of our rival, I hold the NCAA even lower esteem. They're the ultimate hypocrites here. So after was done with my happy dance, if asked for what's "fair" I'd actually advocate for gutting the whole system. I'd rather have every D1 kid be a real student athlete, and ship the OADs and pretend students off to the G-League or some similar place. Since that'll never happen and change comes slowly, I'd still question this whole "sins of the father/mother/guardian" thing.

I'll go one further. If the NCAA actually took the stance right away that the $2500 (and/or $20,000) were the fault of Silvio's guardian, but said that according to their findings and the rules in general, that Silvio was out, I'd live with it. I think Cliff Alexander was put in the same kind of spot, and I think punishing the kid, while unfair in some ways, is the best incentive to keep kids from taking money.

But that's not what happened here. The NCAA either couldn't prove anything (or else Zion would be in the same boat) or they chose not to do anything and THEN misrepresented things to KU. Getting KU to admit that Grassola was a "theoretical booster" (how's that for legalese?!?) only to lower the boom on Silvio anyway just screams that there is no "level playing field."

So yes, I'll celebrate our rivals' failures and pitfalls, but I think there's more to it in this case.

From an article on SBNation (October 2018), the writer

College basketball needs Williamson this year because he’s going to be must-see TV every time he takes the court. Many fans will accuse Duke of getting preferential treatment should the NCAA decide an investigation isn’t necessary. They have some ground to stand on, but the point remains: college hoops needs Zion Williamson this season.

Zion is safe because college basketball "needs" him.

www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2018...gibility-kansas-duke