Some NCAA knowledge for ya...

Note: If I don't post for a few days it is probably becuase the NCAA requested a copy of my financial statements to see if my use of the Cam Newton image below was any sort of violation...

Resident NCAA expert "La Gatter" on Cam Newton and the NCAA in general:

Thanks to Reggie Bush thinking that he could start a sports agency while at So. Cal. The NCAA now has a different set of rules for “high profile” athletes. “High profile” athletes are exactly what they sound like, athletes that are actually good and will likely go pro. The NCAA brands these athletes and once they are considered to be high profile, the NCAA then can investigate the financial background of the player his family, his siblings and his girlfriend.

The NCAA can do this because (1) the NCAA is a voluntary association for colleges and universities, (2) the NCAA is not a state actor, (3) there is no constitutional right to participate in athletics (even signing a letter of intent does not give you a property or liberty interest in your right to play), and (4) the privacy rights of athletes is lower because there is no right to participate, and so there is always the “option” not to play.

So, unfortunately I think we are on the verge of a new era of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions seeking out star athletes and probing into their past, their families and their personal lives without cause, because the NCAA has written a need for cause out of their own bylaws.

As for individual school’s athletic departments, the Committee on Infractions has said that any school must not only report infractions that they may find, they have to host an in-depth investigation and administer appropriate sanctions on that player/coach/administrator. If the school fails to do so, they face sanctions from the NCAA, which is also the case if the punishment does not fit the crime.

Now, how Rainey and Jacques Smith managed to escape all of this is beyond me.

In response to the Cam Newton article specifically, it sounds like Miss. State will more likely be sanctioned then Newton himself for not reporting any potential infractions. But the NCAA does what it wants and gets away with it, and this year it looks like they want to take down the SEC so there’s no telling what will happen next.