Georgia Basketball Myths, Vol. 1: Scandal

In an effort to put our basketball program into perspective, I will be occasionally making some comparisons this season. The first has to do with the notion that Georgia's current basketball ineptitude is a product of the Harrick regime's scandal and disregard for any notion of integrity.

As you will recall, Jim Harrick and his son won a lot of basketball games at UGA. But any achievements on the court were badly tarnished (and eventually rescinded) by their actions off the court. In the last few weeks of the 2002-2003 season, Jeremy Schapp reported on major academic compromises in favor of the basketball team and payments to players (Tony Cole) and their friends.

The result of the story was a cascade of horrors: no post season for one of the best Georgia basketball teams ever, the program being the subject of late night comedy monologues (how many points is a three point basket worth?), the resignation of Harrick and his staff, and NCAA sanctions.

The scandal thumped the basketball program. The team had seven scholarship players in 2003-2004, but still somehow managed an NIT slot. The next year, the effects of scandal really hit home as the team went 8-20. The Dawgs snuck back into the NIT in 2006-2007, before last year's miracle run earned the team its first NCAA appearance since Harrick left.

In contrast, I present the Baylor Bears. There are likely two things that readily appear in your mind when you think of Baylor athletics: Mike Singletary and that one of their basketball players shot and killed a teammate in 2003. The investigation into the murder yielded all sorts of dark, seedy truths, eventually forcing coach Dave Bliss to resign and sending forward Carlton Dodson to prison for 35 years.

For Baylor's basketball program, the result was five scholarship reductions, recruiting limitations, and five years of probation. The NCAA also found that the Baylor administration lacked institutional control of the basketball program, as severe a finding as the NCAA can make. Because Baylor was a repeat offender, it was eligible for the death penalty, but the NCAA spared the Bears. The year after the scandal, Baylor went 8-21. Per their NCAA penalties, they only played a conference schedule in 2005-2006 going 4-13. Baylor continues to be on NCAA probation. I think we can all agree that the Baylor scandal, by any reasonable measure, was far worse than the Harrick debacle, both in terms of the actions that produced it and the cumulative penalty imposed as a result.

Our punishment for the Harrick scandal was mild in comparison: three scholarships were forfeited from the '05-'06 through last season, one in each year, public ridicule, and the release of a large recruiting class. We also got four years of probation, which ended last year. All three scholarships, however, were reinstated after a successful appeal by the university in 2005. The NCAA's rational for this reversal was that all but one of the signees in Harrick's final class decided to go elsewhere when the university granted them all a release. The NCAA decided this was punishment enough and lifted the scholarship sanctions.

So, where are these program's today? Baylor is currently ranked #19 by the AP after last season's 21-9 record and NCAA appearance. The Bears are 11-1 so far this season, including a win over #17 Arizona State. Georgia is 10-4 9-5 and our most impressive win was over Virginia Tech.

I point these facts out simply to show that if one believes that the Harrick scandal still holds this program down, they are mistaken. We are past the point that the NCAA sanctions have a legitimate effect on our program. After all, our penalties were far less severe than Baylor's, yet Baylor is vastly outperforming our basketball program. Our struggles have little to do with the NCAA violations earlier this decade.

Quinton