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Cheating won't stop until ...

Posted May 20, 2008

Get just about any college football or basketball coach to talk candidly about bending and breaking the rules when it comes to recruiting, and you'll get an earful.

Simply, there are programs that have reputations for breaking the rules, and those programs keep on doing it. They do it because they know the NCAA won't administer severe punishment, they do it because the rewards (a great player) are worth the risks, and they do it -- well, because they can.

They can because odds are they won't get caught.

Of course, the quickest way to stop the cheating -- or, at least reduce it a great deal -- is for the coaches to start policing themselves.

Coaches have to start turning the cheaters in. If they find out about improprieties, they need to get it documented, then turn in the documentation to the NCAA. Sooner or later, not even the blind mice at the NCAA will be able to ignore the cheaters if the evidence is overwhelming.

Of course, coaches are loathe to turn in other coaches. Why? Someday, they might need a job with that opposing coach, or they might be offered a job at one of those schools that cheats.

So, it's privately complain and publicly say nothing.

Until that changes, the cheaters will continue to prosper.