Welcome back folks, we really appreciate you guys checking in on our D&K Fadeaway Scoop blog. We hope that we have kept you guys interested in our discussion topics up to this point. In previous segments we have hinted on the multiple NCAA violations scandals that we continue to see very frequently. In recent sports news another major NCAA scandal violation involving Duke’s men’s basketball player Zion Williamson has occurred. It hit the headlines earlier this week so it’s still pretty fresh. In this segment of our blog we will give you guys some detail on what’s kind of happening with this Zion scandal, along with perhaps a few more past history scandals.
Zion Williamson, the Duke internet dunking sensation was recently dragged into an FBI trial involving multiple schools and coaches offering I guess what u can call under the table incentives for him to come to their school. We’ve seen this type of allegation before with big time college mega stars headed to the NBA such as this past years NBA first overall pick DeAndre Ayton. The NCAA is looking into a phone call that happened to get caught on tape between Zion Williamson’s father and Kansas assistant head coach Kurtis Townsend, in which the father asked for money, housing, and a job. Although the phone call was on an FBI wiretap the evidence wasn’t admitted into trial because of an Adidas executive, Merl Code, and his arrest prior to this, which happens to be a whole different story but still has an affect on this particular trial. Even though the phone call didn’t make evidence on the trial the NCAA could still look into which would put Zion’s eligibility in jeopardy.
There was another similar situation for what Zion is being investigated for back in 2011 with Cam Newton, the current starting quarterback for the Carolina Panthers. There was an NCAA scandal put on his back when it was reported that there were documents that indicted that Cam’s father, Cecil, sought out money that ranged from $120,000 to $180,000 for Cam to sign his letter of intent with Mississippi State. It was also indicated that his father had the help of a man by the name of Kenny Rogers, who was a former player for the Mississippi Bulldogs to get this deal done, which in NCAA terms could be consider as him acting as an agent. With this being against NCAA rules as well, this put more heat on Cam. As most college sport fans know, Cam signed to Auburn, and as 
previously mentioned, Zion signed to Duke. It may seem like in both these situations, the student-athlete could have known about the violations, and so to stay eligible they signed to a different college so their names would not be involved. There is also speculation that the other school they signed to might have offered more incentives to the student-athlete, but that is billion-dollar question that these investigations are trying to figure out.
You would think with all of these allegations and scandals that the NCAA would just figure out a healthy way to pay student athletes without any such altercations, instead of investigating the many different trials that turn out to bring programs and certain players down, or trials that end of being a waist of time because their wasn’t enough evidence or they were just flat out wrong with their assumptions. How about trying to figure out a way where you can pay student athletes without any major circumstances that can alter lives and careers. In college sports we know that it’s all about the players so recruiting is usually at the top of coaches agenda. With big time high major players like a Zion Williamson of course coaches and programs want to go out of their way to bring a type of player like that to their program. Whether that’s offering money or other incentives of that nature. We feel as if it’s benefitting the program and that player plus the player’s family if the incentives are helping them out as well. Everyone wins right? The NCAA should figure out a way to not bring down these programs and players, but help find a way in which everyone comes out happy and succeeds.
With all this being said it all comes back to the main question. Should college athletes get paid? It seems as if the NCAA goes through more drama and problems trying to trial these programs and players for money received by student athletes than finding a solution to it. So what do guys think? Thanks for tuning in with us yet again on D&K Fadeaway Scoop. See you next time with the latest scoop.
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