LSU should decline an NCAAT bid...

     LSU has ignored the Will Wade scandal for multiple years. Now is the time for the LSU administration to decline a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers will condone everything Will Wade and assistant coach Bill Armstrong did to enhance recruiting illegally in accepting an offer. They won't do it. 

    I know Bill Armstrong and his father, Jimmy. Bill was an assistant coach at Birmingham-Southern College, my alma mater. Jimmy was the head basketball coach at Oneonta High School, where my daughter played basketball for the Lady Redskins. I would have never believed Bill Armstrong would have been involved in such fraudulent behavior. It is what it is now, and his association with Will Wade may well lead to the end of his coaching career. People can find redemption and second chances, though. Perhaps he will. 

    It would be easy to say that Will Wade will never coach in the NCAA again. History tells us otherwise. Auburn hired Bruce Pearl, and Kentucky hired John Calipari. That should tell basketball fans a lot about both the coaches. It also tells us more about the Universities which employed them. Wade will coach again. There is no doubt that someone will offer him a job in this writer's mind. 

    College sports is no longer a gentleman's game. Sports are no longer about the players. It is about money. Schools want the money and will look the other way regardless of what is done. Wade refused to cooperate with the school's investigation in the matter and hired a big-time lawyer. Wade and LSU reached a devil's compromise. They allowed Wade to stay but told him he would be fired if any allegation was a major violation. LSU knew the truth at the time.  They turned a blind eye, kicked the can down the road, and could later fire Wade to dodge paying his severance package. (which is what happened) The cost of that? The reputation of LSU, never great to begin with, took another blow. I don't think they care. LSU wants some respect for firing Wade. They won't get that from me. The NCAA can now punish LSU and enhance its fading reputation by pulling the Tiger's bid if it is not refused.

    This is an excellent opportunity for NCAA to regain some lost respect.

Next up from the NCAA: Kansas, Louisville, and Arizona. Note that two are number one seeds as of today.