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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Connecticut head coach Kevin Ollie urges his team on against SMU in a first round game at the American Athletic Conference Tournament at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., on March 8, 2018. (Brad Horrigan/Hartford Courant/TNS via Getty Images) /

29. Kevin Ollie gets UConn into hot water

The transition from one legendary coach to another is difficult, but UConn appeared to nail it earlier this decade. After the great Jim Calhoun retired in 2012 less than a year after his third national championship, one of his former players (and current assistant coach) was named to succeed him in Kevin Ollie.

Ollie immediately continued UConn’s winning tradition, going 20-10 in a year where the school was ineligible for postseason play due to rules violations committed under Calhoun’s watch. Once the Huskies were postseason eligible again the following year, Ollie’s team got red-hot in March, riding the hot shooting of Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatwright to the national championship.

UConn didn’t have as many highs the next two years under Ollie, but they made two more postseason appearances, appearing to signal the beginning of a new hoops dynasty in Storrs. Things began to unravel, however, when the NCAA began looking into some of Ollie’s recruiting tactics.

UConn fired Ollie in 2018 due to the pending NCAA investigation, and the firing was labeled as a “just cause” one due to the trouble the school was about to face. Ollie filed a grievance claiming that UConn retained Calhoun despite more serious violations, but the NCAA brought the hammer down on Ollie in the coming months.

Ollie was accused by the NCAA of multiple recruiting violations, including arranging phone calls between recruits and former Huskies’ stars like Ray Allen and Rudy Gay, providing meals to recruits that were not permissible, and failing to monitor the behavior of friend Derek Hamilton, who reportedly trained UConn players despite not being employed by the school. This case is still winding its way through the court system, but it has been an ugly divorce.