There was a time when the NCAA men’s basketball tournament numbered only eight teams. As recently as 1978, there were only 32 teams in the field.
Feeling nostalgic? This might be a good time for a throwback tourney because there might not be enough teams to fill the 68-team bracket in a few weeks.
An explosive Yahoo report Friday revealed details of several documents and bank records obtained during discovery for the FBI's current investigation in the college basketball corruption case. The documents reveal expense reports, cash advances and other benefits allegedly provided to recruits and their families from various skills.
This is the mother of all paper trails. It’s the scene in the movie, “The Untouchables,” when Eliot Ness found Al Capone’s ledger.
It potentially crushes several Top 25 programs and, therefore, one of sports’ centerpiece events.
At least 20 Division I programs and more than 25 athletes are named in the report. The programs listed – and therefore those who potentially committed NCAA violations – include, but are not limited to: Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, Texas, Michigan State, USC, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Virginia, South Carolina, Xavier, Wichita State, Clemson, Vanderbilt, North Carolina State and Alabama.
The South Regional is being held at Philips Arena next month. No word if all teams will be wearing stripes. At the very least, the 68-team field will be covered with teams with asterisks by their names (*eligibility to be determined later).
Dennis Smith, who signed with N.C. State, allegedly received $73,500 in “loans” from an agent. Other players listed among those potentially receiving illegal benefits include Duke’s Wendell Carter (Pace Academy), Michigan State’s Miles Bridges, North Carolina’s Tony Bradley, Alabama’s Collin Sexton (Pebblebrook), Kentucky’s Edrice “Bam” Adebayo and former Kansas player Josh Jackson.
Hey, good news, Georgia fans. The Bulldogs haven’t been in any reports. Neither has Georgia Tech. Neither has any other college basketball program in the state. So there’s still hope for every state program for the NCAA tournament because otherwise there may not be enough teams to fill the 68 slots.
Actually, it’s not yet known how or when the NCAA will act. This is the FBI’s show right now. If the NCAA wants to jump in, it will need to obtain the information from investigators. Even then, how quickly would the NCAA move on the issue? It’s not exactly a governing body known for swift and decisive action.
But this could not come at a worse time for college basketball, with March Madness nearing. The FBI investigation already has put Auburn under the microscope, with the arrest and firing of coach Bruce Pearl’s top assistant, Chuck Person, as well as the suspension of two players and two other members of the support staff. Person and assistants from USC, Arizona and Oklahoma State were arrested on various charges from bribery to wire fraud, most stemming from alleged payoffs to steer potential clients to agent Andy Miller.
Louisville fired coach Rick Pitino following not only a scandal involving strippers and prostitutes provided to recruit, but an investigation that showed an assistant coach planned to send $100,000 to former recruit Brian Bowen (now at South Carolina). Pitino claimed innocence. Of course. The NCAA also stripped Louisville of the 2013 national title.
Fun times.
This was all a long time coming. The college basketball underworld, fueled by shoe-company payoffs, agents and shady AAU coaches, has been sports’ worst kept secret for at least 20 years. It took the FBI to finally do something about it.
Now the NCAA must wonder who will be left for its biggest party.
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