http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/f ... index.html
This is troubling. Someone needs to be held accountable, and punishment should not be a mere slap on the wrist. But like many things, this issue is not as simple as black and white.
My opinion is that any athlete who does not meet the academic requirements should pay the University back the value of his scholarship. They have not lived up to their end of the bargain, and are potentially preventing others (probably more deserving) from enjoying a similar benefit. Whether such punishment is meted out by the school or by the NCAA is irrelevant, the main thing is that the school receives the money - NOT the NCAA.
Merely rescinding a scholarship from a player who was never much of a student isn't much punishment. Yes, if the player has aspirations of playing professionally in said sport, that can hamper him. But then... if it matters that much to him, he shouldn't be allow himself to fare so poorly in class in the first place. Hitting him in the wallet should wake him up quick.
Perhaps coaches should be held accountable too. I'm not quite decided about this, though. Yes, it would a be good idea to fine a coach the value of the scholarship. But then, this may lead to compromised ethics. Doing so may lead coaches to sway instructors to raise a player's grade. While UH is nowhere near the Ivy Leagues, or even Stanford or Rice, academically, it is important to uphold whatever academic standards are in place, and to do so fairly.
What makes it even more disappointing is this excerpt from the SI site:
Seems the "mid-majors" are falling even further behind. The sour grapes explanation would be that these schools are cheating the system. I think it's that their reputation gives them access to better student-athletes, as well as a bigger budget to fund better academic resources.Only seven teams in the six power conferences -- Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Southeastern and Pac-10 -- were sanctioned. Four schools -- Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Texas of the Big 12, and Tennessee of the SEC -- had insufficient scores in baseball. West Virginia of the Big East was penalized in men's wrestling and Mississippi of the SEC was sanctioned in men's indoor track.
DePaul of the Big East was the only power conference school to be penalized in football or men's basketball. It could lose one scholarship in men's basketball.