The NCAA announced that Louisville’s appeal to the sanctions levied has been denied. This means that Louisville’s 2013 National Championship will be vacated along with its Final Four appearance in 2012. This marks the first time a program will have to vacate a National Championship in the Final Four era. These sanctions come in the wake of an investigation that found former staff members paid for and arranged strip teases and sex acts for recruits at parties on campus during recruitment visits. Also considered in this case were allegations of further recruitment tampering including payments made to families of recruits for commitments. The penalties extend to a total of 123 victories being vacated, a four year probation period that includes scholarship and recruitment restrictions, and around $15 million in fines and forfeiture of revenue. Louisville appealed on the grounds that these penalties “went beyond what we consider to be fair and reasonable.” I am personally happy to see such harsh punishment. The state of collegiate athletics and the NCAA is full of corruption and dirty stories like this one. The NCAA needs to start cleaning up its act and this punishment will serve as a stern warning to other programs around the country. The beauty of college athletics stems from the passion and purity of its competitors and its time that the colleges and universities stop clouding this with greed and corruption.
