Alexander Bakos-

First an escort sex scandal in 2015, now this. Rick Pitino made Louisville’s basketball program elite and had a hall of fame resume. Many questions need to be answered about the state of college basketball. College Basketball player is a multi-million dollar business for schools, so many consider it sensible that players are paid. This scandal makes it clear that there’s a whole side to college basketball that we never knew about, leaving fans with so many questions.

What other big programs do pay for play that we don’t know about? Lavar Ball came out and said that his sons were offered money by multiple different schools, as have many other parents. The credibility of these reports may be questionable, but they could be truthful. It’s clear that many schools spend loads of money to attract players, and ignore regulations in the process. With the other scandal from 2015, Rick Pitino’s dirtiness appears to be worse than most, but it would be outlandish not to question some of the top recruiting programs and their methods. This scandal all circulates around the same question that people have been debating with increasing frequency lately – should college athletes get paid? Josh Rosen and Cardale Jones are among many saying that school and high-level sports don’t mix, but for many athletes without professional prospects, they are given the opportunity to get an education that they would not have been able to get otherwise. For those who see college as a mere stop on the way to the pros, a college education never seems to satisfy. Brian Bowen’s family surely would have appreciated the $100,000 Louisville was going to funnel to them, and undoubtedly they had no regrets agreeing to take the money at the time, as college basketball has become embedded with corporate america as Nike and Adidas get millions as a result of NCAA’s widespread following. Overall, the scandal leaves a lot to question about the nature of the sport. People love to speak harshly about the NCAA’s ‘unnecessary’ strictness, but this scandal may reflect some of its reasoning. The FBI investigation should shed much needed light on the situation, as it remains to learned what illegal tactics schools are using.