<p>OK; I'll admit it: my heart is breaking as I write this blog.  I was Orange before I stepped foot on the SU campus, remained Orange while I was a student there, and am still Orange.  And now my Orange pride has taken a hit.  All weekend long I've  been hanging my head in shame as the TV stations have kept repeating the news over and over: "The NCAA suspended Syracuse University basketball coach Jim Boeheim on Friday for nine Atlantic Coast Conference games and took away scholarships after a lengthy investigation of the school's athletic programs."

I've been trying to figure out just what happened.  What did Boeheim and my alma mater do?  I'll let Reuters tell the story:

Syracuse discovered and self-reported 10 violations, over an eight-year period dating to 2001, that primarily involved men’s basketball but also football, the NCAA Committee on Infractions said.

Those infractions included academic misconduct, extra benefits, failure to follow the school's drug testing policy and impermissible booster activity.

"Over the course of a decade, Syracuse University did not control and monitor its athletics programs," the committee said in a statement, "and its head men's basketball coach failed to monitor his program."

Boeheim's suspension will cover the first nine ACC games of the 2015-2016 season.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's penalties include five years' probation, financial penalties, and a reduction of three men’s basketball scholarships per year through 2018-19.

Also Syracuse will vacate all wins in which ineligible men's basketball students played in 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2010-11 and 2011-12 and all wins in which ineligible football students played in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Boeheim, a Hall of Famer who has been the Syracuse head coach since 1976, won 135 games in those five seasons and 108 of those wins will be wiped out.

Say what?  One hundred and eight wins erased?  Treated like losses?  How is that possible?  Well, I guess the games are being forfeited after they were played and won!  And in addition to that, Syracuse must return to the NCAA all money it received through the former Big East Conference for its appearances in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. 

I'll be honest: I find these sanctions harsh — and not only because Syracuse is my alma mater.  These sanctions are saying to me, "Let us pretend that Syracuse did not play basketball in 2011, 2012 and 2013."  That doesn't make much sense. 

On the other hand, I find one sentence of the report of the NCAA Committee on Infractions troubling:

  • Two staff members completed course work for an academically ineligible student "when the school was under investigation for other potential violations." 

I have a problem with that.  That was dishonest.  It was wrong.

Not surprisingly, Chancellor Kent Syverud is not amused.  According to the Chancellor, "Syracuse University did not and does not agree with all the conclusions reached by the NCAA, including some of the findings and penalties included in [the] report.  However, we take the report and the issues it identifies very seriously, particularly those that involve academic integrity and the overall well-being of student-athletes."

There is much talk about an appeal by Boeheim and an appeal by Syracuse.  I guess this is not over.  Stayed tuned for the next installment.

VEJ