Commission on College Basketball wants wide-reaching NCAA changes

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - After seven months of investigation, The Commission on College Basketball -- led by Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- released its recommendations for the NCAA following the FBI pay-for-player scandal that hit schools across the country, including the University of Louisville.

The 60-page report recommends harsher punishments for violations.

Rice said they had to be bold because throughout the investigation, too many times they kept hearing that everyone knew what was going on. She said at a press conference in Indianapolis on Wednesday, it's got to stop.

>> IN DEPTH: NCAA begins work of implementing complex basketball reforms

"We hope that our recommendations can help to level the playing field for those who do observe the rules," Rice said.

She wants the NCAA to take control of the mess college basketball has gotten into and the "winning at all costs" mentality.

Among the recommendations:

• rigorous criteria for summer recruiting events;
• AAU leagues to keep AAU representatives and apparel companies from trying to entice young players and their parents to go to certain schools;
• getting rid of "one and done" players used commonly by schools like the University of Kentucky and Duke;
• allowing players to go straight to the NBA;
• making penalties stiffer for serious rules violations with an independent body to investigate.

They also believe penalties should be tougher on schools who get in trouble after hiring a coach or administrator who's already been found guilty of serious rules violations.

Will the new recommendations mean more trouble for the University of Louisville?

Evan Daniels, of 247 Sports, said having a new university president, athletic director, basketball coach and staff should help the school's cause.

"I would be surprised if they brought down the hammer any differently on Louisville, considering what happened was in the past and they basically cleaned house," Daniels said.

But Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports told us: "With them (Commission) tossing around the possibility of a five-year post-season ban if you are in the FBI complaint, and you're already coming out from under another major scandal -- things are very serious for Louisville. And I think there's a reason to think there could be tougher times still ahead."

Bellarmine University Head Men's Basketball Coach Scotty Davenport watched the Wednesday press conference and said of Rice: "Her intentions were tremendous, the problem is enormous."

Davenport has coached in all levels of basketball. He said with 1,100 plus NCAA college basketball teams, making real changes is a task.

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Rice specifically cited a need to clean up academic loop holes -- like the University of North Carolina cheating scandal. Forde, who was in Indianapolis, spoke with Rice about it.

"The committee was basically appalled that North Carolina skated without any sanctions on the academic fraud on their campus," he said.

As far as one-and-done is concerned, the NBA had that decision.

Many people, like Daniels, agree that the recommendation to allow young players who don't get drafted to come back to college is a plus. He said many times those players make bad decisions, based on bad advice from someone else.

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