South Florida just let out a collective sigh of relief as the early repercussions of the Nevin Shapiro/University of Miami scandal was revealed to the nation on Tuesday evening.
The NCAA decided on eight player suspensions, five of them for just one game, which most agree is not nearly as bad as it could have been.
UM will play one game without Jacory Harris, Sean Spence, Travis Benjamin, Marcus Forston and Adewale Ojomo. Multiple games without Olivier Vernon, Daron Dye and Ray-Ray Armstrong — still even the most optimistic Hurricanes fan must have shared in the sense of relief I think most of us experienced once the word came down.
We have heard the screams from the nationwide Hurricane haters who were hoping for some Southern Methodist type death sentence to the program or some season long suspensions for the players who accepted benefits from the rogue booster Shapiro.
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Based on the relatively mild punishments doled out by the NCAA it seems safe to assume some sort of serious ruling could be forthcoming, this is cause for grave concern. The higher ups in the NCAA are fed up and have had enough, North Carolina, USC and now Miami just to name a few, enough is enough it is now time to lay down the law.
When Kevin Lennon, the NCAA vice president of academic and membership affairs, said in a statement that “our members have continually stressed that involvement of third parties during recruitment will not be tolerated, and there must be accountability for inappropriate behavior” he is essentially saying they are prepared to throw the book at some AD’s and university presidents around the nation who allow these types of transgressions to persist. Can you think of a more perfect program to make an example of than the U? Exactly.
The reality is bowl banishment, lost scholarships, lack of television exposure and more appear to be on the horizon for the Canes.
But for now, we prefer to concentrate on the present season and not spend our days worried about things beyond our control, Tuesday’s announcement feels more like a stay of execution. Relieved to still be alive, but the firing squad can be heard taking practice shots.
Meanwhile it is business as usual for new coach Al Golden who now knows that he will be missing some key players, but he probably knew that a couple of weeks ago.
What he’s counting on is that his brand of football, the competitive spirit he has revived at the U can somehow take over now. Right now, the Canes have no other choice but to proceed full steam ahead, the game at Maryland does seem winnable at least, but further challenges will present themselves as the season goes on.
Beyond that, investigations continue into allegations involving former players, however Tuesday’s suspensions of these eight players only backs up the claims that there is some truth to Shapiro’s story. Now that indeed is very troubling.
