The NCAA thinks Wooden is a bigger problem than USC athletes getting paid

With today’s release of the book Tarnished Heisman, you would think the NCAA would be very concerned with the prospects of Reggie Bush being paid while at USC and the potential of the athletic department knowing about it, which would be an extremely serious violation.

But no. Instead, the NCAA seems to be far more concerned that UCLA recruits don’t get to meet John Wooden, probably the greatest mind in sports history. In that article I linked to, Bill Dwyre reports that a letter of inquiry was sent by the NCAA to UCLA wondering about a possible illegal contact between then-recruit Kevin Love and someone representing the interests of the university (Wooden).

Wow. Of course, this isn’t against the rules because Wooden is still a paid employee by UCLA, as Bill Dwyre pointed out in the same story. So nothing bad will happen to UCLA because of this. The scary thing is, what if UCLA was no longer paying Wooden? Dwyre says it better than me:

But let’s say he had no official status with UCLA, other than being its greatest living example of humanity. Then the NCAA could have agreed that he was a person illegally representing the interests of the school in the recruitment of Love and actually penalize the Bruins.

Think about this.

Even though we know better every time we read about big bowl money and the latest zillion-dollar TV network basketball tournament contract, does not the NCAA purport to exist for the betterment of the educational experience? What better educational opportunity anywhere than to meet and talk to John Wooden?

Gotta love the NCAA. Talking to a living legend is bad. Taking thousands of dollars and getting endorsement deals and agents while you’re still a college player is OK, apparently.

(Major hat-tip to Bruins Nation.)

Links of the Day

Chris Mottram with some creative ideas on how to fix the NBA slam dunk contest and more importantly, who should be in it. (The Sporting Blog)

My friends at Either Relevant or True saw their blog traffic explode yesterday, as they were blogged about and linked to all over the place. (Either Relevant or True)

A look at some underrated college basketball teams. (Vegas Watch)

What Sunday’s NFC Championship Game means: Either Brett Favre or Eli Manning will be in the Super Bowl. We all called that happening. (Larry Brown Sports)

An interview with a National Beach Tennis champion. Yes, that’s a sport. (Epic Carnival)

Yet again, there will be no college football playoff any time soon. (The Big Lead)

Who’s going to have a breakout year in the National League? (The Baseball Authority)