There is hardly anyone associated with the University of San Diego who wouldn't immediately trade their landmark NCAA Tournament upset of UConn a few years ago in exchange for Monday not happening. Or, more specifically, for former G Brandon Johnson having never become involved with alleged marijuana traffickers who the FBI accuses of getting him to shave points -- and attempt to persuade members of this year's team to do the same.
Men's basketball has been an absolute nightmare since the UConn win had coach Bill Grier and the Toreros momentarily on top of the world of college hoops. The message of the federal indictment released Monday is that the nightmare will not end soon, because the consequences could be severe.
The problem is that there are a lot of unanswered questions:
1. The indictment suggests that investigators have spoken to someone connected to the program in order to obtain the last couple of listed overt acts against Johnson -- that's my interpretation. Yet, the school issued a statement saying it only learned of the problem Monday morning. So did a player talk to the FBI and not notify his coach? Did the player talk to Grier, who in turn did not talk to athletic director Ky Snyder? Did Snyder know and not inform school President Mary Lyon, who issued the statement? Was Lyon not forthcoming?
2. The indictment says Johnson spoke to someone on Feb. 23 about influencing the result of a game. The next night, USD inexplicably upset St. Mary's. Did the Toreros come out aggressively that night in an emphatic "no!" to him, or did he find new clients on the other bench? Two nights later, USD lost 68-31 in one of the worst beatdowns in school history. Coincidence, or will the feds amend their complaint with other names at an upcoming court hearing?
3. Do you hold Grier responsible? Everything that happens in the men's basketball program occurs under his watch, whether he knows about it or not. Grier probably had no idea of what was taking place, but is he responsible for an atmosphere in which this horrible stain on the national reputation was able to happen? Even if the answer is no, is it the last straw based on how bad the program is right now?
4. Do you hold Snyder accountable? Under his watch, the Toreros athletic program has gone into a free fall. No one expected the high times experienced by football to continue once former coach Jim Harbaugh departed for Stanford, but the baseball team is off to its worst start in memory, the soccer programs are not doing much and the women's hoops team is middlin' at best. Now this.
A lot of good names, good people, are being dragged through the mud right now because of this episode. Believe me, before this is over, there are going to be serious people associated with the school who will question whether membership in Division I athletics is worth it. That could be the ultimate fallout.
Let's take this a step further. Let's say you're an official at UC San Diego, currently with athletics in Division II and, in recent months, frothing at the idea of moving up to Division I. Does this give you pause?
A lot of questions remain. And to think this might never have been discovered if the other defendants didn't allegedly dabble in marijuana trafficking.
No comments:
Post a Comment