Editor’s note: The article below is a republished story from The Daily Orange’s Oct. 2, 1992 edition. The Daily Orange editorial board reacts to the announcement by the NCAA and its sanctions against the Syracuse men’s basketball team.

The NCAA is set to release the results of its investigation into Syracuse athletics at noon on Friday. 

Something’s rotten in Syracuse.

The internal and NCAA investigations of Syracuse University athletics is over ­ — and the results show that the little guys will undeservingly pay the price.

The lacrosse and wrestling teams, two of the most popular non-revenue sports, are getting the shaft. Meanwhile, men’s basketball, the most lucrative SU sport, charged with the most serious violations, got off relatively easy.

David Swank, an NCAA official, called the wrestling and lacrosse teams’ violations “insignificant,” but still imposed scholarship reductions on both teams. The wrestling program was ravaged — it lost 2½ scholarships each year for the next four years starting with the 1993-94 season. That effectively cuts its athletic grants by one-third, according to head coach Ed Carlin.

The lacrosse team had its scholarships reduced by three, leaving 11 for a 40-man squad. Those sanctions will also begin with the 1993-94 season and will continue for three years. Coach Roy Simmons Jr. said fewer blue-chip players will come to SU without a scholarship.

Meanwhile, the football team, whose violations include exceeding financial aid limits and players’ receiving free meals from area merchants, lost no scholarships and was not sanctioned.

The basketball squad was hit with recruiting limitations, lost only one scholarship and was banned from post-season play this year. The basketball team received than half the sanctions many experts predicted.

Something is definitely rotten in Syracuse.

While the wrestling and lacrosse teams sacrificed to save the bigger, money-generating sports at SU? Some coaches and athletes think so. They may be right.

The violations incurred by the wrestling and lacrosse teams were unintentional. The free meals and services, cash gifts and cheap cars that basketball and football players received are considerably more minor and unintentional.

It is difficult to believe that the university’s in-house investigation and “quick action” lessened the NCAA penalties. There’s got to be more to it than that. Some have used the phrase plea bargain. If the shoe fits…

Something’s rotten in Syracuse.

Compiled by Connor Grossman, asst. copy editor, cgrossma@syr.edu

 

Published on March 6, 2015 at 11:11 am

Contact: opinion@dailyorange.com