Last week the NCAA handed down a suspension for Oklahoma State’s basketball program. Some OSU fans I know expressed anger at the NCAA for its action. One of the comments I heard was that the ones being hurt the most by the ruling are the current coaches and players — not necessarily the ones responsible for the misdeed. While I can’t claim to know much about the situation, I would tend to agree with that thought. That’s usually the case in NCAA rulings. The ones affected the most are almost always innocent bystanders.

Hall-of-Fame Coach Roy Williams got his start as a head basketball coach at the University of Kansas. The only year that the Jayhawks didn’t play in the NCAA tournament under his watch was his first year --1989. Kansas had won the NCAA tournament championship in 1988 as Oklahoma basketball fans can attest. The championship game in 1988 was between two old Big 8 rivals, Kansas and Oklahoma. Kansas coach Larry Brown left for greener pastures, partly because he knew that Kansas was under investigation by the NCAA. Sure enough, the NCAA put a one-year tournament ban on KU for infractions of the Brown coaching staff. Brown was guilty, Williams and his players served the penalty.

In the current OSU case, the present Cowboy team is the one stuck with the probation. Illinois Coach Brad Underwood, who was at OSU during the time the alleged infractions occurred, isn’t being penalized. The NCAA has a job to do and I am not advocating that there be no policing of college sports. It is just similar to the world of criminal justice where the outcome doesn’t always seem fair.

Oklahoma State isn’t the only school currently serving probation terms. Seventeen other Division schools are on probation, 12 of which involve men’s basketball programs. The University of Missouri is under probation for its entire athletic program.

This latest situation influenced me to think back (with some internet assistance) to cases of schools suffering major NCAA sentences.

The first one that comes to mind involves Southern Methodist University in Dallas. SMU was given the “death penalty” one of the severest sentences ever handed down. SMU’s football program was shut down for the 1987 and 1988 seasons. Once a power house, SMU football never was good again until just recently. One of the reasons for the extreme measures was that the school was already under sentence for five separate infractions at the time. What was involved was a secret slush fund that was used to pay players. Remember the old TV series “Dallas?”

On that show the mean old character J. R. was an SMU alumnus and a big booster. It isn’t hard to imagine that if J. R. were real, he would have contributed to the SMU slush fund. Speaking of SMU, the school is currently on probation in basketball. Guess what--the infractions involved happened under Coach Larry Brown’s watch. Fans of Kansas basketball probably aren’t surprised.

Another incident involved Auburn in 1991. Football head Coach Pat Dye was recorded while he was arranging for a loan for a player. What is notable about this situation is that Dye was caught on tape and the tape was shown on “60 Minutes.” He was replaced by Terry Bowden, who guided Auburn to an undefeated season the next year. Bowden is the only football coach to have his team go unbeaten, but not play in a bowl game.

A fact that I had forgotten. Wichita State ranks among the schools that have been put on probation more often than most. The Shockers have served seven probations in their athletic history. That is amazing since Wichita State has no football program. However baseball and basketball are traditionally strong programs at the institution to our north. The most strenuous of the probations was handed down in 1982 a year after the Shockers had played in basketball’s Elite Eight. There was a fund discovered that promised cash and airline tickets to players who would play basketball for the Shockers.

Going way back in history, there was a huge scandal in 1951 that affected a number of schools. The principal one was City College of New York, which had won both the NCAA tournament and the NIT that year. Other schools involved were New York University, Long Island University, Manhattan College, Bradley University (Peoria, Ill.), University of Kentucky and University of Toledo. The scandal involved 33 players who had agreed to shave points from games that year. As one might expect, professional gamblers and the Mob were involved. The situation came to light when a Manhattan player (Junius Kellogg) was offered a $1,000 bribe to shave points in a game against DePaul. Kellogg refused and reported the incident to his coach. He eventually wore a wire which led to the arrest of seven gamblers. In the ensuing investigation, 33 players admitted to taking bribes between 1947 and 1951. There were 86 games involved. It has been pointed out that the players were paid to keep the score close, not to throw the game (if that makes any difference).

CCNY was banned from playing games in Madison Square Garden and never has been a basketball power since. Kentucky’s basketball program was shut down (another death penalty) for the 1952-53 season. Two players who were involved, Ralph Beard and Alex Groza, were banned for life by the NBA. Both surely would have been 2020 and Ju ed and must an big stars in the professional Petition filed by IN THE game.

I remember the scandal, primarily because it involved Long Island University. My connection was that LIU played Kansas State in a game 1n 1951 and the LIUK-State game was broadcast over the radio. My Dad and I were listening on our dining room set. LIU had a standout player--Sherman White--who was thought to be the best player in the country. I remember having a big game in that K-State contest. Later he was arrested and charged. According to accounts I read now, he served eight months in prison for his participation and like Groza and Beard, was banned from playing in the NBA. I was very young at the time and the thought of someone that I knew a little about serving prison time blew my young mind.

There have been tons of scandals involving college sports and there will undoubtedly be tons more. The world of sports is like everty other world. It has its moments of embarassment which unfortunately come much too often.