Egregious. Severe. Defiant.
Those were just a few of the words that filled a 92-page NCAA enforcement staff document the University of Kansas released last week regarding the NCAA’s investigation into the Jayhawks men’s basketball program.
They were strong words. They should lead to strong penalties for coach Bill Self, his staff and the program in general.
But will they? Haven’t we heard similar bold language in the past regarding the since-settled, 16-year academic scandal at the University of North Carolina? Wasn’t Miami going to get the death penalty a while back for booster Nevin Shapiro’s numerous wrongs? Didn’t NCAA president Mark Emmert use eerily familiar language when his organization appeared to overreach its authority in the Penn State child molestation case centered around former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky?
None of those words were necessarily wrong when spoken. But what did they lead to? For the most part, nothing (UNC), next to nothing (Miami) or a lot of sound and fury (Penn State) that was greatly muted on appeal.