With the litany of accusations hurled against “The U” by Yahoo! Sports and Nevin Shapiro, the drumbeat for the NCAA “Death Penalty” has already begun. The level of detail combined with the library of photographs are extremely damning, especially when one of the photos contains the convicted felon Shapiro alongside University President Donna Shalala and head basketball coach Frank Haith. Will Miami face the “Death Penalty” and be forced to shut down their football program for at least one season? It is obviously too early to say conclusively, but all signs point to a resounding YES.
What we don't yet know for sure is how much Miami officials and administrators knew of the transgressions. With SMU, it was eventually determined that knowledge of their player payments went all the way up to the Chairman of the SMU Board of Governors, Bill Clement. In Coral Gables, it is clear that the administrators knew (and entertained) Shapiro, but did they know about the benefits he was giving the players? On the surface, Miami was clean. Paul Dee was the Chairman of the Committee of Infractions and Randy Shannon was creating a more respectable image of the program. One would assume that Universities would check up on boosters who have cash to spend, who are clearly fanatical about the University they support, and who are extremely close to high profile athletes who frequently look for extra benefits. Maybe Dee needed to amend his comment to say “High-profile boosters demand high-profile compliance.”
Another landmark case needs to be made. In the 80's, especially in the Southwestern Conference, player payments and benefits were getting out of control, and while nothing can eliminate the problem, the Death Penalty upon SMU certainly showed that the NCAA wanted to serious about it. Considering the existing scandals hovering around college football, we need another watershed moment to abate the rash of indecency in the sport we all love. This is the NCAA's chance.
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