It might not be a solution, it might even not be a deterent, but I think it might be something that the conferences and the NCAA should look into. What am I talking about? Well, making the NCAA to Division IAA Universities relationship be like Gaming Commission to the Casinoes, or in other words, each Div IAA school should have a small core of people from Indy inside their school, working together with both the Academic & Athletic Departments, looking to make sure that nothing happens that could lead to a debacle like the one we have in Chapel Hill (or have had in other schools prior). How would it work? Well, here goes nothing…
There would be a four (or five) man team, having offices on each of the campus of the colleges involved. One would be the head man and follow all sports (and being the one that would actually be talking to anyone from the college if a problem arised), one would be for the football team, one for men’s basketball, one for all men’s olympic sports and one for all women’s sports. Their tasks would include many things, mainly keeping an eye on the players’ academics. You could say they would be chaperone for its sport(s). They could at anytime require someone’s file for any class, they could go into the study halls, they basically would have full access to anything with the exception of closed practice sessions (and any other specific time/activity that the NCAA and the Universities would consider off limit). Yes, it would be like big brother watching you, but on the other hand it would also speed up any problems that might arise (say the UConn story), and when the investigative team from Indianapolis arrives it does not have to start from square one without a clue. It will already have reports from the on-site team on what is going on. I might be wrong in saying this, but had the NCAA put something like this in place the whole UNC two pronged investigation would be over by now.
Can this work? I am not sure. Will the NCAA put out so much money to make it work? Highly doubtful. Would school want to have this type of “control” put over them on campus? Again, probably not.
The NCAA
But in the end, if what mattered is the integrity of the game and the best for the players, something that so many that work in the NCAA talk about wanting to be their main focus, this could be something to look into, no? By being able to have this closer bond between these two entities it might lead to being able to work together on not just that but many other problems that could be fixed at the college level. Sure, this is nothing that can be installed over night. You are talking about hiring thousands upon thousands of people, screening them, getting them situated and then starting. This process might not be completed two years after it has begun. But I do think this is the time that both the schools and the NCAA need to begin something, be it my idea or something else.
It would take time to get used to, heck, probably many might never get used to it. It would also have to be done in a way that the four or five person group gets rotated so that no outside friendships begin, and many other things would have to be inserted in order to make it all be a success. However, nothing good is usually easy, and that is the case in making this a reality. Like it or not, believe it or not, the old saying “nothing changes if nothing changes” truly applies for this situation. It is North Carolina this time, it could be another school in a year or so, and unless measures are put into affect that can at least make the players (or whomever else) think twice about doing it do not be surprise to turn on the tv or open the paper or see on the internet that
