College basketball’s 30 biggest cheaters that tainted the game

19. John Calipari

The inclusion of John Calipari on this list may be a bit controversial, especially since Calipari himself hasn’t directly been accused of any wrongdoing. Calipari has been around when several big scandals have occurred, however, warranting his inclusion on this list.

The first major cheating scandal under Calipari’s watch came back during his time at UMass. The Minutemen had a remarkable run through the college basketball world behind center Marcus Camby, advancing all the way to the Final Four in 1996 for the first time in school history.

That achievement wouldn’t stick, however, as it was revealed that Camby had been taking money from an agent throughout the year. UMass was forced to vacate its Final Four appearance, but Calipari wasn’t implicated in any wrongdoing.

Trouble found Calipari again at Memphis in 2008, when the Tigers had a good year and got all the way to the national championship game. Memphis ended up losing the title in a heartbreaker to Kansas, but everything came under intense scrutiny thanks to eligibility concerns around star point guard Derrick Rose.

Rose was found not to have taken his SAT’s in high school, having someone else take it under his name, and that made him retroactively ineligible. The Tigers were forced to vacate that entire year, and Calipari quickly bolted for Kentucky when the opportunity presented itself.