Syracuse Drug Policy Violations: NCAA Must Throw Down the Hammer on Orange

Syracuse has self-reported drug violations, and the world received the news with yawns and a tinge of skepticism. These are very real violations that demand an equal and real reaction from the NCAA and college basketball fans. 

On Monday, Charles Robinson and Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports released an extensive report that cited Syracuse for violating drug policy when several players were reportedly cleared to play after violating policy. 

The report states: 

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...at least 10 players since 2001 have tested positive for a banned recreational substance or substances. The sources said all 10 of those players were allowed to practice and play at times when they should have been suspended by the athletic department...The four sources said Syracuse violated its drug policy in at least two areas: failing to properly count positive tests; and playing ineligible players after they should have been subject to suspension.

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I know, yawn...right? 

There are far bigger fish to fry, even if this involves players getting potentially baked. I mean, we have seen far worse allegations hit this program, and in this very season. 

The current reports from Katie Kramer of Syracuse.com state that the drug violations were uncovered during the intensive investigation of former Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine. 

While these reports pale to the enormity of accusations that once faced Fine, they are no less a sign of a program that is willing to look the other way. 

ESPN's Dana O'Neil asks the right question in the wake of nonchalance hitting this story.

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Confused boutthis in Syracuse reax: aren't drugs illegal? Should I tell my 7 yr old who loves coll hoops it's only recreational drugs?

— Dana O'Neil (@dgoneil1) March 6, 2012"

O'Neil, reporting on the violations, describes how far the NCAA can go in this current crop of collegiate wrong doing. 

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If Syracuse is found to have knowingly violated its own drug policy, it could trigger the NCAA's so-called "willful violators" clause, used when there's a pattern of violations. That would allow the investigation to date back to when the infractions began.

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This is precisely why things have become out of hand. Marquee programs continue to skirt the rules if it benefits the bottom dollar. 

While this may be Syracuse self-policing themselves, the NCAA mandates these schools follow their own guidelines.  

I agree with O'Neil that drugs are illegal and that we should care about such things. I am not naive enough to think this is isolated to the sports program. 

A good chunk of the Syracuse campus would have failed a pop quiz involving a urine sample, and that goes for every last campus in this country. 

That is a discussion on national drug policy and whether it means anything, or needs to be implemented. That is a discussion for another venue and for another time. 

What we should also look at is yet another program that picks and chooses what to enforce despite NCAA and internal rules being in place. 

That is a symptom of a far greater problem, one that plagues football as much as basketball. Programs put winning far ahead of character building.

Amateur sports need to be about accountability and teaching the youth about boundaries. Once again, a program has failed to do just that.

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