Cheaters win

Everybody cheats. Back in the day, I used to be in charge of the bank when my cousins and I would play Monopoly, and of course I stole a 500-dollar bill at least twice a game. Why not? How else was I going to afford hotels for the overpriced dark green properties, while still maintaining houses on Park Place and Broadway?

I will admit, I was caught stealing from the bank a couple of times. But generally my opponents didn't come to this revelation until after I had won the game, so it turned into one giant moot point. After learning how easy it was to rob the bank while manning it, I went overboard. I started taking money whenever I needed cash advances or my cousins took a bathroom break. Eventually, I was stripped of the bank duties because I could not be trusted. Still, I won the majority of the previous games, cheating or not. What was unfortunate for my cousin who earned banking duties after I was disbarred was that he was watched with eagle eyes.

Basically, my cousin who inherited my job had to deal with the entire backlash from my misdealings. Fair, isn't it? What was stopping me from cheating? Nothing. I cheated and won the majority of my family Monopoly games, but my successor assumed my lackluster reputation.

With this thinking, why don't all Div. I coaches cheat? After all, what is a couple hundred or thousand dollars here and there? Who is actually going to catch them? Or better yet, how many coaches actually get busted for recruiting violations during their tenure at a particular school? From a professional standpoint, who cares if my successor has to deal with NCAA sanctions? I put together my championship team, got paid, and got out of dodge.

The 1993 Michigan Wolverines, who lost to North Carolina in the national championship game, have maintained a reputation as one of college basketball's most famous teams. However, over the last year it was alleged that this squad was put together through NCAA recruiting violations. Chris Webber, the most notable member of the Fab 5, allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars to play for the University of Michigan. Webber has a trial pending for these allegations, but the name that gets lost in all of these shenanigans is the coach of that team, Steve Fisher.

I admit, I do not know Fisher. But I do know that current Michigan coach Tommy Amaker did not break any rules in 1993. And now he must attempt to recruit top-notch players to a school that saw the NCAA strip the program of some scholarships as well as disallowing them to participate in any postseason tournament until next season. From that scenario, I would say Fisher got a decent deal.

Just as I skimmed a 500-dollar bill or two from the bank during a game of Monopoly, Fisher bent the recruiting laws to build a championship caliber team. But why shouldn't Fisher have cheated? He probably knew that if the NCAA caught the program it wouldn't be until after he was long gone. While his team did not win the National Championship that season, Fisher will always be known as the coach who led Michigan to three Final Fours and won a National Championship in 1989. Meanwhile Amaker is known as the coach who earned top coaching honors at a deceit riddled program, after departing a Seton Hall program that was on the rise.

While Michigan suffered great embarrassment after being sanctioned, the prominence it enjoyed before the rule infractions is hardly irreplaceable. Basketball is not the only sport to have teams hit with NCAA sanctions. Within the past couple of years, the Alabama and Auburn football programs were excluded from postseason competition due to major recruiting violations. Most recently, the University of Maryland football team had a linebacker coach resign after he allegedly gave a top recruit over 300 dollars in efforts to sign him to a scholarship. Also, the University of Texas baseball team was placed on two years probation for secondary violations, six weeks after returning from a visit to the White House to celebrate its 2002 NCAA Div. I championship.

It is a wonder that more major Div. I schools do not cut corners during the recruiting process. But, recent developments in NCAA investigations point to the fact that more schools than you would believe probably do commit some type of recruiting violation.

Other Div. I programs such as Fresno State have come under recent fire for alleged academic fraud. Fresno State elected to remove itself from consideration for the NCAA postseason tournament including the National Invitational Tournament in hopes the NCAA will not impose a full year ban on the program.

However, the largest news generator of all the recent scandals is the allegations former Georgia Bulldog basketball player Tony Cole brought on both Jim Harrick Sr. and Jim Harrick Jr. While many coaches such as Jerry Tarkanian, formerly of Fresno State, exited at the perfect time, the Harricks do not seem to be as fortunate.

Cole alleges that the Harricks bought him hundreds of dollars worth of gifts while he played at the University of Georgia. While Cole makes these claims, the University of Rhode Island (the Harricks' former employer) has launched an investigation of its own to determine if the Harricks' violated any NCAA rules while coaching at URI.

Is cheating right? Absolutely not! Is cheating worth it? In some weird fashion, it actually might be. All of the teams mentioned above had winning seasons during the time of the alleged violations. While it can never be certain, I am sure there are other teams committing recruiting violations everyday, some of which will never get caught. After weighing the benefits of a winning season compared to the negatives of possible NCAA suspension, can you really blame these coaches for cheating?