Allegations norm in NCAA, not at Liberty
On GUARD — The Liberty Flames football team has worked hard to follow the NCAA and Big South Conference regulations and guidelines.
Over the past couple of years the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has seen a thickening array of allegations surrounding college athletics. Within a couple of years, the NCAA has swiftly passed judgment to many universities across the U.S., most notably the University of Southern California (USC), Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Tennessee. Currently, Oregon, Miami (Fla.) and Ohio State are being investigated. But what are these universities being investigated for?
That answer lies within the improper recruitment of high school athletes and giving improper benefits to student athletes that are currently enrolled at the school.
Whether if it has been putting a school on probation for one who works with an agent. The Oregon Ducks football team is currently being investigated for improper recruitment of high school players in the state of Texas.
The Ohio State football team is under investigation due to players selling merchandise (individual awards) and giving improper benefits to players. This lead to the resignation of its head coach, Jim Tressel, and the withdrawal of their top athlete, quarterback Terrelle Pryor.
Lastly, the Miami football and basketball teams are currently under investigation due to players and coaches accepting impermissible benefits, partly from booster Nevin Shapiro. Shapiro is currently serving 20 years in prison for fraud. Shapiro admitted to giving the teams favors in cash, prostitutes and parties, among other things, during an eight year span. He even admitted to awarding players bounties to hurt or injure key players on other teams Miami faced. “It’s disappointing when coaches and the administration become involved because it’s our job to set examples for the players and represent their insititution in a positive manner,” Barber said.
Most relate Miami troubles to the Pony Express, the scandal involving the Southern Methodist University football team in the mid-1980s, which included coaches and boosters who promised to pay top high school athletes in order for them to come to the university and lied to NCAA investigators.
“When coaches and administration lie about their actions it makes for a sad commentary on people and it can happen in any business. In all, I think it gives a black eye to college athletics and it needs to be repaired,” Barber said. After many warnings from the NCAA, SMU‘s football program was canceled for one year. The year without football started a 20 year drought without a winning season. This judgment is known to most as the death penalty.
These recent schools that have come under the investigation of the NCAA raises the question of who is responsible, the players who accept the gifts in order to better themselves and their families financially, or the coaches, boosters and agents responsible?
For Liberty, however, Barber and his staff make strides daily to follow the standings of the NCAA, as well as the Big South Conference.
“Our compliance department does a great job in overseeing the department. We do a good job educating our donors, coaches, staff and student athletes of what they can and cannot do. We are proactive when we deal with these types of situations,” Barber said.