Sometimes even really smart people make mistakes. The president of Louisville James Ramsey made one Friday. Gary Parrish of CBSSportsline nails it in his article Louisville selfishly punishes seniors by self-imposing late postseason ban.
From that article…
Any postseason ban, I think, should always be for the subsequent season once a semester begins, that way goals and dreams are never abruptly ripped from seniors midseason.
Yes 100% Yes. Trey Lewis and Damion Lee are two seniors that transferred into Louisville. Two 5th year seniors that already graduated from their previous schools, and have never played in the NCAA tournament were denied that right, by a rash decision by Louisville’s administration.
Am I saying that that Louisville should not be punished and possibly severly for violations related to their prostitution scandal? Absolutely not. You break the rules there are costs. Rick Pitino as the head coach, whether he knew or not what was going on, should certainly face a suspension. As the face of basketball at Louisville, it comes with the territory if rules under his watch are broken.
Post-season bans, reduced scholarships and anything that comes are the price you pay.
That said making that decision now only hurts blameless players like Lewis and Lee. This was not difficult decision. The NCAA moves at a snails pace and likely won’t reach a decision for months if not years on this subject. Louisville could still be pro-active, by self-imposing a postseason ban after the season. That would allow players to transfer and coaches to leave if they wish. At least they would have options.
If you felt a move needed to be made now, you suspend Rick Pitino for the rest of season without pay. That’s simple, effective and punishes the head basketball coach.
Unfortunately the decision Friday appears short-sighted. What Louisville did effectively was fire the secretary at Enron.
