Strange but true: Its been nearly 20 years since the 2000 publication of Sole Influence by Dan Wetzel and Don Yeager, whose book uncovered the shameful dynamics infusing the relationship between athletic shoe companies and college basketball.
Way back then, the conspiracy actually was shocking … only to be left to fester and enable more brazenness.
At least until it all could no longer be willfully ignored because of the ongoing FBI probe that led to the Adidas college basketball corruption trial last year that exposed the underbelly of the game.
The difference is wiretaps, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson bluntly put it on Thursday at Sprint Center. What if they didnt have the wiretaps now? Would we know?
Not to be outdone, Kentucky coach John Calipari said: You know, if youre going to do something (illicit) now, youre going to get on the phone or youre going to go meet with somebody and try to do something, you either got some chutzpah or youre really stupid. Like, stupid.
So Calipari suggested this could be a time of cleansing, and a pivot point for the NCAA to say how do we deal with this stuff? They can clean the slate and start all over.
Well … maybe.
But just how is another matter even as the looming issue is freshly reprised with the recent allegations that Nike is engaged in the same practices (albeit allegations tinged by the pesky fact accuser Michael Avenatti, who was arrested and charged with attempted extortion).
And just how, when its most effective enforcement tactic seems to be relying on … wiretaps and the FBI.
In the moment, the reality is this lament a methodical method of cheating has flourished for too long and warped the game and our sense of what and who to believe in. Even if this gets fixed, youre left to wonder what takes its place?
The game will survive obviously in time, Sampson said. But it certainly puts a tarnish on it.
That it does, making for a confounding time for those who love the game. Just when we want to be celebrating it with the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional in town this week.
Then again, as a longtime power conference athletic director put it to me when I asked recently if he felt the game was in trouble: Yes, he said, pausing, smiling and adding, But …
The but is that scandals and all, television ratings for the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament are tied for their highest since 1991 and that most fans still care more about their program winning than whether its ethically compromised.
How many followers are remotely bothered by the fact that every coach here, and many in the Sweet 16, has faced scrutiny about events under his jurisdiction and that three have been strongly disciplined in the past by the NCAA?
