This is only the beginning...
If nothing else the NCAA naming Nevin Shapiro in an official report signifies that they believe infractions took place.
Eight University of Miami football student-athletes must miss competition and repay benefits as a condition of becoming eligible to play again, according to a decision today by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff. The student-athletes received varying levels of recruiting inducements and extra benefits from university booster Nevin Shapiro and athletics personnel, according to the facts of the case.
Reinstatement decisions are independent of the NCAA enforcement process and typically are made once the facts of the student-athlete’s involvement are determined. This is typically well in advance of infractions decisions. The enforcement investigation into the University of Miami is ongoing.
Now, I also have some issues with this.
Are the infractions so blatant and easy to prove that it was easy for the NCAA to make this decision so quickly or is it another case of cronyism because of Mark Emmert's long standing relationship with UM president Donna Shalala?
I am going to say 70/30 with the 70% being in the relationship side of things.
I wonder how UNC fans are feeling right now with this being fast-tracked?
If it took four-plus years to unravel Reggie Bush's mess then how long will it take to unravel this?
This is just the beginning, if the NCAA named Shaprio directly that kind of debunks that this is all smoke and mirrors like some in the press would like you to believe. I have my own issues with Robinson's reporting and I can see where the Jason Whitlock's and Dan LeBatard's want to challenge Robinson's work but whether we like it or not he gets it right more often than he gets it wrong.
Now, that doesn't change the fact that Robinson is pretty thin skinned when others call out his reporting...I have seen that first hand when I called him out on his accusations of Tim Floyd...accusations that have NEVER been proven or corroborated but he did get the good on Bush and it looks like he has got them here too.
There is another angle to this as well...The real courts may get involved with this.
Seventy-two former or current UM football players who are alleged to have received cash, gifts, meals or other benefits from convicted Ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro soon will receive a subpoena from a bankruptcy trustee seeking to recoup anything they received of real value, one of the lawyers said Monday.
Attorney Gary Freedman, who represents bankruptcy trustee Joel Tabas, warned Monday there would be consequences for players who do not cooperate.
"They can’t ignore it — it’s a subpoena issued by a bankruptcy court," Freedman said. "If they ignore it, we will seek an order from the court to compel them to respond.
"If they don’t respond, they will face a contempt order."
And what would happen then? He said the bankruptcy judge can impose monetary sanctions or have any of them "picked up and brought into bankruptcy court. The judge can take someone into custody but I don’t think he will do that in this instance."
There is the NCAA's defacto subpoena power.
I am not yet sure if it gets this far, but you bet the NCAA will ask for those transcripts if those interviews take place.
Just the beginning...