Brendan Smith

Recently, the NCAA has come under fire for the handling of many scandals, notably the UNC academic fraud, and the college basketball recruiting scandal. NCAA President Mark Emmert is concerned that the public is losing confidence in the NCAA, according to data collected by the NCAA. According to the data, a stunning 79 percent of those polled claimed that big schools prioritize money over student-athletes. And honestly, I can’t find a reason to argue against that.

Amongst those polled, 51 percent believe that the NCAA is part of the problem rather than the solution. The NCAA constantly contradicts itself, and the inconsistent punishments handed out by the organization leave for plenty of confusion.

In addition to the…questionable…handling of the UNC academic fraud investigation, on the very same day, the NCAA ruled NC State freshman point guard Braxton Beverly ineligible. Beverly originally committed to Ohio State, while Thad Matta was still the head coach of the Buckeyes. Beverly then enrolled in Ohio State to take a class over the summer, but Matta was fired less than a month after Beverly enrolled. Naturally, Beverly no longer wanted to play for Ohio State without Matta, so he asked for and was granted a release from his NLI, and then enrolled at NC State. One problem. The NCAA ruled Beverly ineligible because he had begun taking classes at Ohio State. So NC State filed a waiver, citing that the coaching change at Ohio State came at a rather strange time. Ohio State told the NCAA they would support the waiver. Still, the NCAA would not approve that waiver.

UNC was able to get away with nearly two decades of academic fraud because the two staff members who had full knowledge of the situation failed to cooperate. Essentially, UNC was let off based on a loophole. In Beverly’s case, the NCAA is punishing a student who was taking real classes, trying to get a jump start on his education to make his athletic season easier. This practice of taking winter or summer courses is not uncommon for athletes. Usually, a schedule will be loaded up during the off-season semester, and then a lighter schedule will be taken during the in-season semester, in order to avoid conflicts with class and athletics. That is likely the reasoning behind Beverly’s decision to take a class starting in May at Ohio State.

So, why would Mark Emmert be confused about the public perception of the NCAA? Of course our confidence is wavering. And everyday, we have more and more reasons to worry.