How the NCAA being denied access affects Arizona Basketball

Making more news in the world of college basketball, here’s how the latest news about the NCAA being denied access affects Arizona Basketball.

There’s no doubt it’s been a long, difficult and downright tiresome past couple years as Arizona Basketball fans. Since being implicated in the FBI pay-for-play investigation, we’ve been relegated to endless headlines, unsubstantiated rumors and plenty of speculation.

Luckily, we’re getting closer and closer to an end to all the madness, and as this has gone on, we’ve certainly gotten more clarity on the investigation, as the case against Sean Miller and Arizona grows weaker and weaker. However, we’re not out of the woods just yet.

Arizona Wildcats

No, unfortunately the inconsistent NCAA will still have to make a decision or at least complete their investigation, and that’s something that should make fans a little anxious.

However, if there is one thing Arizona Basketball fans should be happy about, it is the latest NCAA news regarding the FBI/ NCAA Investigation.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied the NCAA’s request to obtain evidence related to the FBI criminal case pay-for-play, stating that “the information in these documents consist of hearsay, speculation and rumors… the individuals referred to in these documents are not standing trial. They will not have the opportunity to test the reliability of the information contained in these materials.”

What this essentially means, is that the NCAA will NOT be able to use unsubstantiated and uncorroborated evidence as a means to punish the individuals rumored to be guilty on the basis of presumed guilt rather than convicted or proven guilt.

As Arizona fans, this should be considered a big win for us, although I’m sure some fans will worry about this part….

“After Monday’s ruling from Kaplan, NCAA officials will have to rely on wiretap calls and other materials that were entered into evidence during the federal criminal trials, as well as information procured from their own investigations.”

“NCAA Officials will have to rely on wiretap calls and other materials that were entered into evidence”

What should be important to note, is again refer to what was mentioned above, that the NCAA will not have the opportunity to test the reliability of said evidence they will have, therefore weakening their ability to make any sound punishments on the basis of hearsay and rumors.

This whole time we’ve heard how guilty coach Sean Miller is, yet throughout the investigation, he was not implicated nor indicted despite the “supposed tapes” that we’re still waiting on… yes calling on you Mark Schlabach. But again, what case does the NCAA make in proving Miller or Arizona was complicit or knowledgeable about the pay-for-play scheme that was going on?

Point is you can’t, and the move today by Kaplan helps Arizona in a lot of ways… despite the pessimism by plenty of the vocal, bad-faith actors in the media… our personal friends!

Now, that doesn’t mean the NCAA won’t or can’t punish the University of Arizona in anyway, because who knows, they’ve been wildly inconsistent at times, and it’s possible they throw everything including the the kitchen sink at us.

Nonetheless, it’s nice knowing that NCAA will either have to do their own investigation without having the majority of the information the FBI has, or they will just have to make a decision based on what they know thanks to what the FBI’s discovered.

As a glass half full kind of guy, this looks a little positive!

Anyways, at Zona Zealots, we’re just longing for the day when all of this is over and we can have a return to some normalcy! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!