For most of its history, the NCAA held unchecked authority over the conduct of its member institutions, often imposing severe sanctions for significant rules violations.
In 1987, the SMU football program received the “death penalty” when its boosters repeatedly were caught making illicit payments to players. Michigan’s basketball program was forced to vacate its 1992 and 1993 Final Four appearances when a booster laundered gambling money to pay stars like Chris Webber. In 2010, USC’s football program received a two-year postseason ban and lost 30 scholarships because of gifts Reggie Bush and his family received from prospective agents.
But during the past decade, schools have lawyered up and fought back. In 2017, North Carolina successfully wiggled out of academic fraud allegations involving hundreds of athletes. In subsequent years, prominent basketball programs like Kansas caught up in an FBI bribery investigation received minimal punishments.
Meanwhile, the NCAA has been racking up larger legal defeats, like the 2021 Alston Supreme Court case, reducing its standing regarding its amateurism model.
Currently, Tennessee’s football program is being investigated for alleged recruiting inducements to five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who in 2022 signed an $8 million…
