NCAA needs improvement

When national signing day for college athletes passed on Feb. 1, UNC saw a football recruiting class that only held two four-star recruits, a stark contrast from last year’s class, which held eight.

Some have suggested that UNC’s ongoing entanglement in an investigation by the NCAA is to blame for the University’s disappointing recruiting class. Others chalk it up to the transitional period UNC football is going through, from the days of Butch Davis to the future of Larry Fedora.

But the tepid reception UNC received from this year’s recruits is most likely rooted in the looming NCAA sanctions, whose results still remain unknown — though they should have been announced weeks ago.

According to its website, the NCAA typically hands down sanctions for a given infraction within six to eight weeks after the hearing. But UNC’s hearing was in October, and the University has yet to receive word on the sanctions almost 14 weeks later.

If the NCAA cannot offer an explanation for these delays, it should be prepared for the public to draw its own conclusions.

The most obvious of these conclusions is that the NCAA’s actual priorities are vastly different from its proclaimed aim of protecting amateurism.

The NCAA appears to pay special attention to teams that play on national television, suggesting they are beholden to the networks that air these games (and garner significant revenue for the NCAA in the process).

In fall 2010, Auburn University’s superstar quarterback Cam Newton was suspended after it was alleged that his father had been paid by recruiters to send Newton to Mississippi State, where Newton played before transferring to Auburn.

Conveniently, this suspension was issued days after the Iron Bowl. And it was revoked only one day later, in time for Newton to play in both his conference championship and the national championship.

When UNC player Devon Ramsay was accused of academic fraud, on the other hand, it took an entire season, during which he was suspended, for the NCAA to find he was innocent. When Ramsay was finally allowed to play, he suffered a knee injury which essentially ended his football career at UNC.

There is absolutely no reason it should be taking the NCAA so long to investigate UNC’s current case. The delays only further obscure a process already mired in controversy and lacking in transparency.

The NCAA also has a history of issuing large punishments to athletes for relatively small violations. With these large punishments, the NCAA attempts to legitimize its pursuit of “amateurism” in the face of harsh criticism.

There is much room for improvement in the NCAA’s practices. Many people, including former UNC-system President Bill Friday, have suggested it needs to be overhauled completely.

At the very least, the NCAA should provide a general timetable for its investigative process, and it must stick to it.

College athletes are expected to adhere to stringent, standardized regulations. The organization responsible for enforcing these regulations should lead by example and adhere to equally strict procedures in its investigations.

If there are details that have prolonged the process of issuing the sanctions, they should be made clear when the final report is released.

The football team did commit violations of the rules set forth by the NCAA, and a punishment is deserved for that.

However, by delaying the report, UNC is suffering a second punishment in the form of a sub-par recruiting class.

It is unclear what type of punishment the University will receive, but the lack of a timeline has led to a case in which the punishment may not fit the crime.