Louisville a case study in what's wrong with college sports

WHAT WENT down Friday in Louisville is at the heart of what is wrong with college sports. And it is not that a former Louisville basketball staffer apparently arranged for strippers to appear at parties in a dorm and some money changed hands. We are talking high school- and college-age men hanging with women late at night. Is this really an outrage?

Here is the outrage: Louisville announced an immediate postseason ban. Why not just wait to get all the facts and see how this plays out? The university is protecting its brand, its cash and its future cash. It is what always happens in these cases. The truth is irrelevant on the way to finding the most expedient way to move on from the problem, and collateral damage is just part of doing business.

What gets left behind in this university-as-corporation mentality are the players or, as the colleges insist on calling them, the "student-athletes."

It is always about the players, we are told, unless, of course, a player accepts free tattoos. Then, he gets branded, tossed aside; next "student-athlete" up.

The players can't get paid. That would just be wrong, we are told. It is fine, however, for universities to take in millions from huge television contracts while ignoring players' feelings when the schools make decisions that are strictly about the bottom line and perhaps, in Louisville's case, to hold off more harsh future punishment.

None of the players on the Louisville roster had anything to do with whatever happened at those parties, yet their season will end without playing in the ACC Tournament or NCAA Tournament.

Damion Lee really looked forward to playing in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament his final two seasons at Drexel, because it was going to be held in his native Baltimore. Then, he tore his ACL and missed the 2014 tournament. Then, he got hurt at the end of last season and missed the 2015 tournament.

So, he went to Louisville to play his final college season as a graduate transfer. The ACC Tournament is being held next month in Washington, close enough to Baltimore. The closest Lee will get is his television. In what world is this fair?

I read Katina Powell's book. She was the escort who arranged for the strippers and apparently wanted to get even with somebody because her services were no longer required. It was not an engrossing read. It took me 45 minutes, and I doubt it will be on the Pulitzer committee's list to review.

I don't know the truth of what happened or what an appropriate punishment would be for the school if some or all of what is alleged in the book turns out to be true.

I thought Louisville coach Rick Pitino's suggestion of a large fine for the university and/or the coach makes some sense. If you want to suspend the coach, go for it, even though the idea that every coach is supposed to know everything that has happened, is happening or will ever happen with his players has always struck me as absurd.

What I know is that a postseason ban hurts the players, and I keep hearing this is all about the players.

Villanova is going to start NCAA Tournament play at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Wildcats will have earned that site preference because they are going to be one of the highest seeds. They have played four games there the last two seasons, so it will be a familiar spot.

As I have been writing, Villanova is one of four teams in play for the No. 1 spot in the East, along with North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia. It is also possible one of those four teams could be No. 2 in the East, so I make it better than a 50-50 chance that Villanova, should it win two games in Brooklyn, would be playing at the Wells Fargo Center in a two-game regional tournament, winner goes to the Final Four in Houston.

After the Connecticut game Thursday night at the Liacouras Center, Temple will have played 10 games against top-50 opponents (North Carolina, Butler, Utah, Wisconsin, Saint Joseph's, Cincinnati (twice), SMU and UConn (twice), the kind of number the selection committee will like. The Owls are 4-5 in those games, with all the wins coming inside the American Conference, a metric the committee will not like as much.

However, it is rare that a team that is close to the at-large pool has the kind of opportunity this late in the season that the Owls do next Wednesday against a non-conference opponent. That would just happen to be Villanova at the Liacouras Center, a virtual play-in game for Temple. If the Owls get the upset and don't implode down the stretch, I see no way they are not included in the 68-team field.

Villanova (76.9 percent) is eighth nationally in free throw accuracy . . . Temple is third in fewest turnovers (9.4 per game) . . . St. Joe's was third in fewest fouls (15.4 per game) entering Tuesday's game; Hawks senior Zeke Miles was 10th in free throws (88.8 percent); teammate DeAndre' Bembry was third in minutes (37.4 per game) . . . To nobody's surprise, La Salle has three of the top 20 in minutes played: Johnnie Shuler, Cleon Roberts and Jordan Price . . . Five teams are shooting 50 percent or better: St. Mary's, Indiana, Evansville, SMU and Eastern Kentucky . . . West Virginia leads the nation in steals (10.3 per game).

On Twitter: @DickJerardi