Paul Finebaum is done with NCAA corruption. He says those stories used to be a big part of his job. Now, they seem irrelevant.
“I don’t like saying this because I was one who always believed in the rules and who spent the early part of my career looking into transgressions and thinking those who did it should be kicked out of the industry. It just simply doesn’t matter anymore,” the SEC Network host told McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning on Jox 94.5 in Birmingham.
During an interview on Monday morning, host Cole Cubelic referenced an NCAA ruling that puts LSU on a three-year probation. The football program will also vacate 37 wins.
The school’s former basketball coach, Will Wade, received a two-year show-cause penalty for his role in a major basketball recruiting scandal. That means punishment will be attached to Wade, not the school, and follow him, no matter where he works, for the next two years.
The penalties were self-imposed by LSU and the NCAA ruled that they were good enough.
“The message is clear,” Finebaum said. “Cheat like crazy and don’t stop until you win. I never thought I would say that, but it’s the truth. It simply doesn’t matter anymore.”
It is a topic that Paul Finebaum knows his callers will want to discuss. It isn’t something he is putting much thought into though.
He said it is a waste of time because the NCAA’s authority is “a farce”. Building a show around the topic doesn’t make much sense.
“I am long past getting outraged and upset that someone like Will Wade gets away with whatever he got away with, or someone else, because if it doesn’t matter to the people who govern the sport, and by the way, that includes everyone who sits in on these meetings and on these management councils, then it’s certainly not going to bother me anymore.”
