There's a lot of hoopla surrounding the Penn State men's basketball team. The Nittany Lions just captured their first NIT championship, head coach Ed Dechellis has silenced his critics (for now), and the Lions have already appealed to Taran Buie, one of the top recruits in the nation.
But a word of caution to those who read on: With this new-found success comes higher expectations, and though some may not like to admit it, the desire to win sometimes begins to flirt with the temptation to bend the rules.
It's only natural for athletes and coaches to put success above all else. Ask most of them why they play, and they'll tell you the reason is simple -- to win.
That certainly holds true for the Lions. Predicted to finish in the middle of the Big Ten standings, Penn State used a combination of toughness on the court, and a nearly flawless reputation off it to bring fans into the seats and a NIT championship to the program.
Unfortunately, in the past we've seen the temptations of success blind programs from their usual, generally ethically sound practices. For players, it comes in the form of off-the-field incidents, and for coaches, it stems from the pressure to land the top recruits. This often times lands them in hot water and leads to coaches breaking recruiting rules.
University of Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun recently came under fire after allegations that the Huskies' program violated NCAA recruiting rules. According to reports from Yahoo! Sports, between 2006-08, former UConn student manager Josh Nochimson supplied then-recruit Nate Miles with lodging, meals and transportation before he signed his intent to play for Calhoun, and that a coach on staff knew about the violation.
Phone records also showed the Huskies exceeded the limit of calls allotted to recruits, calling Miles and his guardians more than 30 times in one month. The NCAA limit per month is one.
Indiana University incurred five NCAA violations from 2006-2007, according to a Notice of Allegations sent to the university president, including placing more than 100 telephone calls to prospective players, violating the rule that states you cannot make more than one call to a recruit each month during their sophomore year of high school.
In both cases, these are programs where success is expected, and the need to live up to those expectations may have led to these violations.
It's a rule that, on the surface, doesn't seem worthwhile to break. But with several top programs vying for these top recruits, most willing to offer the same spiel of decorated histories, impeccable facilities and the opportunity to win a national championship, it soon becomes a race to be the first to call or text the rising star.
Even in Happy Valley, the temptation to win has become too much on occasion. After the Penn State football team came out of nowhere to capture the 2006 Orange Bowl title, recruiting numbers skyrocketed. The Lions brought in the No. 6 recruiting class in 2006, according to Scout.com, and it looked as if postseason appearances and five-star recruits would be the norm, despite some of the character flaws in these recruits.
But while the team continued to find success on the field, 2006 began a slew of incidents off of it. There's no need to go down the list of players who had their run-ins with the law, but one thing was clear: Penn State was more concerned with winning ball games than bringing in guys who weren't going to get into scraps with the judicial system.
Certainly players getting in trouble isn't unique to these past four years, and a lot of the issues are blown up by us here at the media, itching to get the news out about the latest athlete that decided to have a little too much to drink, but 46 players charged with crimes since 2002 isn't an exaggerated number.
It seems as if the pressure to remain one of the top teams in the country and bring in the top talent outweighs some character judgements.
The Lions deserve all of the praise for making the spotlight on the men's basketball program brighter and establishing a promising future. They were able to find success by following the rules and playing tough on the court. But keep doing it the way you have been, Penn State. Keep recruiting by the rules, and making sure the players keep their personal baggage in check.
Make sure you continue to have "success with honor."
Brian Eller is a senior majoring in journalism and is The Daily Collegian's Thursday columnist. His e-mail address is bpe5006@psu.edu.
