College basketball's 30 biggest cheaters that tainted the game

College basketball’s 30 biggest cheaters that tainted the game

ATHENS, GREECE - APRIL 23: Rick Pitino, Head Coach of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens react during the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Play Off game 3 between Panathinaikos Opap Athens v Real Madrid at Olympic Sports Center Athens on April 23, 2019 in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Panagiotis Moschandreou/EB via Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK – CIRCA 1977: Bo Lamar #11 of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots against the New York Knicks during an NBA basketball game circa 1977 at Madison Square Garden in the Manhattan borough of New York City. Lamar played for the Lakers from 1976-77. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

9. Southwestern Louisiana

In college basketball, the “death penalty” is an incredible punishment for a program. In order for a school to qualify for the death penalty, there have to be multiple gross violations of NCAA rules, which would obviously make the school a tremendous fit for this list.

The best example of a school incurring the death penalty we have here is Southwestern Louisiana, which is now known as Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ragin’ Cajuns built a basketball powerhouse in the 1970’s, reaching the NCAA Tournament in their first year of eligibility and becoming March Madness fixtures rather quickly.

In an era where schools like UCLA received national recognition for their prowess on the basketball court, programs were often willing to do whatever it took to win. That was the case for Southwestern Louisiana, which flouted the NCAA’s rules early and often.

When the NCAA launched an investigation of the basketball program, they found more than 125 different rules violations had occurred. A lot of those infractions were financial, with players either being paid or using school credit cards to purchase things, but there were also numerous academic problems, including the fact that multiple students with GPA’s below the minimum 1.6 threshold were allowed to compete.

This was no laughing matter for the NCAA, which threw the book at Southwestern Louisiana. The NCAA wiped out the 1972 and 1973 seasons from the record books for the Ragin’ Cajuns, while the school was forced to shut down its basketball program for two full years.