LAWRENCE, KS - FEBRUARY 07: A cheerleader cheers behind balls displaying the Kansas logo prior to the start of the game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Kansas Jayhawks on February 7, 2009 at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)NCAA hammered Oklahoma State hoops with sanctions today as punishment for their role in the college basketball bribery scandal, which drew the attention of the FBI a few years ago.
That bodes very poorly for a quartet of top college basketball programs who are also under investigation. For nearly two years the sport has been the center of federal investigations, and a lot of big names have been accused of very serious NCAA violations.
Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio pointed out that the allegations against the Cowboys program were among the least severe of the programs named in the FBI investigations into corruption in the sport. Other schools that could face serious charges include Kansas, Arizona, Louisville and LSU.
Those are four of the top college basketball programs in the country. If the NCAA finds them guilty of anything like what they found at Oklahoma State, the punishments could be far worse.
This is the first of the FBI punishments and Oklahoma State wasn’t even one of the worst offenders…could be bad news for Kansas, Arizona, Louisville, LSU, etc
And we lose Cade Cunningham in the Tournament, which stinks https://t.co/qU56wM4oxa
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) June 5, 2020
Oklahoma State received a one-year postseason ban along with a fine, recruiting restrictions and probation after a former associate coach was found to have been paid thousands to influence student-athletes. And that was despite Oklahoma State firing the coach quickly and cooperating during the investigation.
Considering that some programs face even more aggressive pay-for-play accusations, who knows how much pain the NCAA might inflict on them?
One thing’s for sure: The NCAA is cracking down harder on rule-breakers.
Are any of those four programs going to get out of these NCAA investigations unscathed?
