LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- We have reached the point in the University of Louisville’s dance with the NCAA where the only thing left for its administrators, coaches, athletes and fans to do is SCREAMMMM!!!!!!
SCREAM about the relentless national media glorification of Dollar Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks.
You didn’t have to listen to an FBI wiretap to discover Kansas beat North Carolina for 2022 national title Monday night in New Orleans. Mentions of the program’s issues with the NCAA, including allegations of five Level I violations, were rare and reluctant. Analysts were more likely to speculate if Self and Kansas can do it again next season.
The Jayhawks had their spot in the same “Pay for Play” scandal that stained Louisville basketball. Who knew?
Play on — and party on in Lawrence.
SCREAM about how the most challenging thing for former U of L coach Rick Pitino to process for the last month was watching Saint Peter’s grab all the low-major glory with the Peacocks’ remarkable victories over Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue in the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
That was the same Saint Peter’s team that Pitino’s Iona squad defeated by eight and nine points while winning the 2022 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title. That had to furrow Pitino’s brow.
But at least Pitino was two seasons back into his Division I college coaching career. The Louisville program that fired Pitino in 2017 is 4 1/2 years into its wait for answers about its possible punishment for the school’s role in that scandal.
SCREAM about the news that was confirmed in Kingston, Rhode Island, Wednesday morning:
Former Indiana head coach Archie Miller has indeed hired former U of L and IU assistant coach Kenny Johnson as one of his top assistants at the University of Rhode lsland.
That is the same Kenny Johnson who was dismissed at Louisville in 2017 and then removed from the staff at LaSalle University of Philadelphia in May 2020, not long after Johnson was named in an NCAA notice of allegations that concerned his time at Louisville.
Depending upon the story you believe, Johnson did or did not give Brian Bowen, the father of U of L recruit Brian Bowen II, $1,300 in cash to help with housing costs during the short time the Bowens were in Louisville.
Rhode Island believes Johnson — and also believes in his ability to get and develop players that can help the program start winning in the Atlantic 10 Conference again. The school's athletic director said he was aware of Johnson's situation but said Johnson comes to Rhode Island with the "highest recommendations."
"He has had great success at all levels, whether it is the high school ranks, the AAU ranks and also the college game," Miller said. "Kenny will have a heavy hand in recruiting, not only on the East Coast but specifically in the DMV area."
Good for them. Good for Pitino. Good for Kansas.
Are we forgetting anybody? Only the U of L basketball program.
I’m not saying the NCAA needs to cut Louisville a break or that it needs to drop an anvil on the Cardinals.
I’m saying the school deserves a resolution. An answer. A chance to move forward without living in 2017.
That was two athletic directors ago. That was five coaches ago. That was many, many players ago.
New Cards’ head coach Kenny Payne has been on the job less than two weeks. He’s still assembling his staff. He’s sorting through his roster.
As Payne gets started, one of his primary obstacles will be overcoming the uncertainties created by the NCAA background noise. During his introductory news conference, Payne said he asked U of L interim athletic director Josh Heird to outline the possible worst case scenario in the NCAA matter.
Payne heard the worst case and still left the Knicks for Louisville. That’s been the most encouraging development in the entire saga.
But the NCAA needs to do better as it fades from relevance in college sports. Its inability to monitor and enforce rules that many programs have stopped accepting helps to explain why the organization remains as popular as a flat tire in a thunderstorm.
We’re more than 4 1/2 years into this mess and likely more than six months from a resolution. I said likely. Never put a clock on the NCAA. Deadlines are against NCAA regulations.
That chips away at the credibility of the process. We shouldn’t still be fussing about 2017 in April 2022. The investigative and judgment processes have to move faster.
Kansas waved off the NCAA — and won the national championship.
Pitino pushed back, went to Europe and has been back in the game for two full seasons.
Johnson got a fresh start at LaSalle and now another one at Rhode Island.
And the U of L basketball program is waiting and wondering and waiting — just as it has been for 4 1/2 years.
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