I was not terribly surprised at what was his likely forced resignation, something which I believe should have happened months ago. This was far from Tressel's first brush with the NCAA. He had problems at Youngstown State, for scholarship and recruiting violations. After his arrival in Columbus, there was Maurice Clarett, followed by a steady stream of players, with the most prominent and public being the suspension of Troy Smith for the Fiesta Bowl following the 2004 season, for accepting $500 in cash from a booster. President Gee and Athletic Director Gene Smith were much too lenient when it first beacame known that Tressel had lied to the NCAA and to his bosses. With his compliance track record and for the lies, he should have been immediately terminated. It would have been in the best interests of the institution and set a better example of how a school should react when something like this happens, and rest assured it will happen again, somewhere. It wasn't until the Columbus Dispatch was about to go public with stories concerning additional violations that Gee finally decided to act, assuming as I do, that the resignation was not voluntary. I'm also convinced that Leslie Wexner, founder of The Limited and Chair of the Board of Trustees, saw the continuing controversy as adversely affecting the school's major capital campaign that President Gee was forced to act. This did nothing for his reputation either, but solidified the feel who went to B1G Ten that tOSU is really a SEC in witness protection.
Zach Price in a piece for Sports Illustrated, links the Terrell Pryor portion age limit, which, in this case, would be the stricter NFL limit once the players and owners sign a new collective bargaining agreement. While I don't really buy the connection, I do believe that the age limit is a bad idea from the colleges standpoint, particularly in basketball. The NBA and NCAA should adopt the baseball limit at all. Baseball allows a player to be signed right out of high school, but if he doesn't sign a pro contract before he enrolls, then it's three years before the MLB can get him. The advantages of this rule are: (1) it gives the student an option not to go to college if that's really what he wants, (2)the colleges know that they have a player for three years and can better build a team, (3) the athlete knows he must be a diligent student since he will want to stay eligible for three year, thereby significantly raising the change that college will actually be meaningful for him.
That said, my real answer is to eliminate athletic scholarships altogether. But wait, then all of the disadvantaged kids who had trouble getting through high school would not be able to go to college. That would only be true for those kids who are marginal students. For everyone else, there would be adequate financial aid available on the same basis as it is to the rest of the student body. It has worked in the Ivy League and Patriot League (although the Patriot League has recently crossed over to the Darkside) and works in Division III. Now, I know that Ivy League and D-III schools don't have stadia that seat 1000,000 and aren't on TV all the time, but that is what college athletics should be. Instead, we all have gifted the top five major professional leagues, free of charge, a minor league system that would cost billions to replicate. It is a system that has been designed to enrich its administrators and coaches at the expense of the colleges and universities and on the backs of the student-athletes. Real and lasting reform of the NCAA won't take place until system and the role of the big five major leagues is addressed.
