Louisville vacates 2013 NCAA Basketball Championship and 2012 Final Four Appearance

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A decision came today regarding the Louisville recruiting scandal and regarding all wins from 2011 to 2015, including their 2012 Final Four appearance, and their 2013 National Championship. Today, the decision was made that all wins would be vacated from the period. Although the Florida Gators, who were beat by the Cardinals in 2012, will not be credited with making the Final Four. The Michigan Wolverines, 2013 runners up, will not be given the title of Champion. This is the first time in NCAA history that a National Championship has been vacated.

Throughout the course of the timeline stated above, assistant coach Andre McGee, hired prostitutes and strippers to “entertain” high school recruits during their visits to the University. This would eventually target former Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, who stated that he had no knowledge of the allegations. This summer, Pitino was placed on administrative leave and left the University.

After the decision, Louisville interim president, Greg Postel, was appalled by the NCAA’s decision as said in a statement: “We disagree with the NCAA ruling for reasons we clearly stated in our appeal. And we made a strong case – based on NCAA precedent – that supported our argument.”

Players on the team as well expressed their disappointment and irritation with the NCAA’s decision including Kevin Ware and Luke Hancock. Ware stated that “It’s Dumb” and that, “At the end of the day, the mistakes that Andre McGee made didn’t have to do with us. The NCAA is a joke.” McGee was the 2013 Final Four Most outstanding player also said: “I don’t care that much about the perception, and I don’t think it changes that much. We won those games. It’s not like that never happened.”

Even some people at the school have opinions on the matter. Kerry Zimmerman, science teacher and college basketball fan states: “I get that the program was under some scrutiny, but the NCAA continues to punish schools,” said Zimmerman, “Lots of times it’s the coach, and I don’t know why the coach doesn’t get punished more often instead of the school. Now you’re punishing innocent players that didn’t have anything to do with this.”

According to Zimmerman, the scandal does compare to the scrutiny that Topeka High just went through when the football team’s wins were taken away due to an ineligible player. “It sounds similar because some innocent people are feeling the punishment rather than the guilty ones, but there are some obvious differences.”