Just a few quick observations on Iowa State’s 590 page report to the NCAA regarding its "systemic failure" when it came to calling recruits, knowledge of the rules and so forth…
*** Remember that according to the NCAA, violations are either "minor" or "major." This isn’t like school when if you didn’t get an A, you could still muster up an A – or a B + before dropping all the way down to a B or below.
It is either "major" or "minor" with no in between and that is important. This news is big because of that "major" tag that got placed on this case, but that doesn’t mean that Iowa State bought a recruit a car, changed a grade or so forth. That is what most people think of when they hear about a "major" violation.
Like USC and Reggie Bush. That type of stuff.
Sport-by-sport, these violations are mostly "minor" (that’s my assumption – who knows what the NCAA thinks?). Add them all together and it is a "major" for the athletic department as a whole. Hence, where the situation stands today.
*** That Fred Hoiberg guy just looks better and better by the day. As it turns out, "The Mayor" kick-started this entire investigation when he reported to Jamie Pollard that "Lefty" Moore was breaking some rules. It would have been very easy for Hoiberg to look the other way on that one. Very easy. But he didn’t and from there, Pollard stepped up to the plate by launching a thorough investigation.
To say that Iowa State attempted to "sweep this under the rug" is utterly ridiculous. Hoiberg immediately went to his boss. His boss then hired out and conducted a multi-year investigation that resulted in this 590-page report.
Who swept this all under what rug exactly again?
*** Yesterday’s report did not change the fact that of the 1,484 impermissible calls across every sport in the department, only 79 of them will face discipline. That’s five percent of the calls.
That five percent of calls were true violations and according to the report, Iowa State has already issued penalties to the coaches at fault for these violations. Now it is up to the NCAA to judge whether or not that was enough. So stay tuned for that.
*** A fact that nobody is going to talk about is how football has 85 scholarships to give on any given year. Compare that to men’s basketball with 13. Men’s golf gets 4.5 and women’s golf gets six. Wrestling gets 9.9. Those are just a few examples. CLICK HERE to view a sport-by-sport scholarship allotment.
The point is though that of course football is going to be listed more in this report than the others. These guys make A LOT more calls than the others sports due to the recruiting demands that filling 85 scholarships bring. This part is common sense really.
*** To wrap things up (before I get to links), Iowa State absolutely did things here that it shouldn’t have done. Any rational human being/fan/whatever can see this. But the reason that all of this is "out there" is because Iowa State self-reported itself. It all began with Hoiberg and then went athletic department wide. Iowa State has already paid a price and likely will pay more after the NCAA reviews this case, whenever that might be.
As the Des Moines Regsiter’s Bryce Miller points out in this column, there still are questions that need to be asked and yes, Iowa State absolutely needs to answer them too.
It would be interesting to see every other athletic department in America conduct the same investigation that Iowa State did and see exactly where this stacks up against the rest.
I can only imagine that some would show a "systematic breakdown" similar to Iowa State’s. Some would probably be much worse. Others would not. But it would indeed provide prospective as to just how serious, or "major" all of this really is.
LINKS
*** As he always does, WHO-TV/1460 KXNO’s Keith Murphy provides some quality perspective on the issue in his "Murphy’s Law" blog.
*** Randy Peterson outlines this entire issue in the Des Moines Register.
*** Travis Hines outlines men’s basketball’s role in the report via the Ames Tribune.
*** The Tribune’s Bobby La Gesse does the same with football.
*** Cody Westerlund breaks this down sport-by-sport.
*** Randy Peterson reports that Iowa State spent over $30,000 on its investigation.
