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NCAA continues to show no common sense

It should have been a great night for Hoopheads -- the new season kicking off on a grand national stage. But last week's Coaches vs. Cancer Classic hadn't even tipped off at Madison Square Garden before we were delivered yet another unsettling reminder that no season, no matter how new, can avoid the intrusion of legislative lunacy, courtesy of our friends at the NCAA.

The reminder came in the form of a press release announcing that Syracuse point guard Billy Edelin's 12-game suspension was being upheld because Edelin allegedly violated the NCAA's rules forbidding "outside competition." The "competition" in this case was a recreation league outside of Syracuse that Edelin played in last winter. If I tried to make up the facts of Edelin's case, you'd never believe me. Start with this: Edelin was not even enrolled at Syracuse when he played in those games. He had been suspended indefinitely after two female students accused him of sexual misconduct. (I realize that doesn't exactly make Edelin the most sympathetic figure, but to be fair, he did pay a significant price, and no criminal charges were ever filed. He was readmitted to school this fall.)

In addition, the rec league did not include any former pro or even major-college players, which is the situation the outside-competition rule was designed to prohibit. The games were also held on an elementary school court so small that the teams could only play four-on-four. And if you're wondering whether Edelin knew he was violating NCAA rules, consider that the only reason the NCAA is aware he played in the league is because Edelin mentioned it to a reporter.

Despite all that, the NCAA's student-athlete reinstatement committee upheld Edelin's suspension, applying a one-for-one penalty, meaning Edelin will have to miss one game this year for every game he played in that league. The committee could have opted to suspend Edelin for fewer games or not at all, if only it had factored in a little common sense. But as we know far too well, common sense and NCAA do not exactly go hand in glove.

Ironically, when word of Edelin's participation in the rec league broke in October, Steve Mallonee, the NCAA Division I associate chief of staff, told the Associated Press that just because the games were four-on-four didn't mean that Edelin was not in violation. "Outside competition could be a three-on-three tournament, four-on-four or a slam-dunk competition as long as it's organized," he said. Yet last week the NCAA lifted its one-game suspension of two North Carolina players, Will Johnson and Jonathan Holmes, for their participation in a charity three-on-three tournament in Chapel Hill last spring. After the decision was announced, UNC athletic director Dick Baddour conceded to The (Raleigh) News & Observer that the suspension would not have been overturned "if they applied a strict interpretation of the rule." Baddour added, "I thought if reasonable people would hear our case, we could win it."

The bottom line is this: The NCAA should define cheating the same way U.S. courts define pornography -- you know it when you see it. Next up this week is Memphis point guard Antonio Burks, who has appealed the three-game suspension he got for allegedly receiving an extra benefit. The benefit in this case was a car Burks rented from Avis last spring, even though he's 22 (the minimum age required by the company is 25) and did not have a credit card. As it happens, Burks spent $101 on the rental -- exactly the minimum threshold at which the NCAA's extra-benefits penalty is applied.

Burks already sat out Memphis' win over Syracuse at the Garden last week. If the NCAA applies a strict interpretation of the rule, he'll have to miss two more games. If reasonable people hear his case, he likely will be reinstated. Regardless of what happens, however, the college basketball season has started off 0-1. Instead of celebrating the sport, we're once again decrying the unreasonable people who govern it.

I'd ask for a do-over, but it's against the rules.

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