The NBA is trying to set an example for the rest of professional sports with its punishment of the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard amid its investigatory findings. Millions of dollars in fines and five first-round draft picks revoked. That's one of the stiffest penalties in sports history and it could trickle down to college football too.
In the midst of a myriad of lawsuits resulting in rulings permitting former college players to return to the amateur game despite crossing the proverbial professional threshold, schools could face consequences from conferences and the NCAA if they roster one of those players. The potential standoff over bending the meaning of amateurism to gain an advantage will have immense ripple effects.
One school in particular that looks poised to lead that standoff is LSU. New head coach Lane Kiffin reportedly attempted to recruit multiple players that were recently cut from NFL rosters in the wake of those rulings, including tight end Dae'Quan Wright, who was released from the Cleveland Browns. The SEC passed a recent rule against that very action, but a Louisiana judge ruled the conference cannot legally enforce it. That leaves the NCAA to reset its own precedent.
NCAA has opportunity to regain lost muscle in returning NFL players controversy
The stiffest penalty the NCAA has ever handed down on a football program is a full-season ban. The 1987 SMU Mustangs suffered that fate for repeated major violations involving pay-to-play schemes while already on probation. In the modern era, Penn State suffered heavily after the infamous Jerry Sandusky scandal, incurring a $60 million fine, a four-year bowl ban, severe scholarship reductions and vacating 111 wins.
That's the precedent the NCAA has to work with should it feel empowered to punish LSU for fielding a former professional player. Will that, or something more severe, ever be handed down? Doubtful. The governing body for college sports has lost a lot of its teeth in recent months because of state and federal court rulings benefitting players over enforcing the rules on the books. College athletics has essentially been slowly devolved into a minor league for the top professional leagues as a result.
That being said, the NCAA has an opportunity here to regain the influence and muscle it's lost from court restrictions. This could be the time it says "no more" and points to the NBA as an example of discipline in an era of rampant spend-to-win mentalities. If judges want to make institutions recognize college athletes' claimed entitlements more and more, then the rules surrounding those entitlements need to be enforced.
There's going to be clashes among state officials and lawmakers over the gatekeeping of college sports, but that may be helpful in reaching a consensus. In the meantime, the current rule has to stand until an overturn is proved more correct — just as the replay system works. At this time, abandoning amateur status in the way that's being proposed by these judges is not more correct.
LSU, should it choose to challenge the NCAA in this case, may be victorious and alter the landscape entirely. Fans should just prepare themselves for more of an open season on recruits and transfers than ever seen before.
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