Comparing Arizona Basketball to Louisville’s notice of allegations

With Louisville receiving its notice of allegations today, here’s why it’s foolish to start comparing their situation with Arizona Basketball.

Well, kind of good news folks, we are finally getting closer and closer to having a resolution for the Arizona Basketball team in regards to the FBI Investigation.

In case you were paying attention today, you may have seen that the Louisville Basketball program received their notice of allegations on Monday afternoon, and well, they’re quite substantial.

Arizona Wildcats

As it stands, Louisville is facing Level I and Level II Allegations, with the most severe of course being the Level I violation, which is resulting from former Cardinals signee Brian Bowen allegedly receiving $100,000 from Adidas representatives.

Let’s stop it right here and analyze it all thus far, shall we.

We all know the allegation(s) that Arizona faces here, which is that former Arizona assistant coach Book Richardson received payment, and there’s no denying it, he admitted to it in court. However, what is unclear… ahem, excuse me, I mean unprovable, is that those payments ever got to the players.

So to me, how is that an impermissible benefit, or a recruiting violation like in Bowen’s case, when there are no proven payments to players?

Remember, the Ayton/ Miller conversation didn’t ever happen like ESPN or others like to report, and another player seemingly brought up is Rawle Alkins (according to Christian Dawkins), who was also cleared by the FBI. With that alone, that’s not exactly comparable to Louisville here.

The only player tied to Arizona that is mentioned in the initial FBI Investigation was Jahvon Quinerly, who apparently has already been investigated by the NCAA.

Okay, so now that that is out of the way, here’s what else is important to know.

Also to come out on Monday, was that Louisville received Level II allegations which accuse former head coach Rick Pitino of failing to promote “an atmosphere of compliance” (paging Dick Vitale). Not exactly comparable to Arizona either, because remember, it wasn’t just the FBI incident that got Pitino into trouble during his time at Louisville, there were also multiple scandals including a sex scandal, and the use of Escorts on recruiting visits back in 2015.

That’s also not to mention that there were even more Level II infractions for Louisville which include; failing to properly monitor its staff, and providing “impermissible transportation and having impermissible contact” according to CBS Sports.

Now, I may be biased here, but the previously listed incidences make Arizona’s situation pale in comparison between the two schools.

And from what we know of the investigation so far, most of what was presented in the initial investigation was hearsay and not actual testimony, because remember, what Dawkins said in trial, mostly contradicts his story and what was said on tape. Not exactly apples-to-apples here folks.

But here’s where it gets a little murky.

It’s unclear if Arizona is to indeed get dinged for not promoting an atmosphere, however, I know myself and others are feeling as if that may be what the NCAA is trying to prove. But if the UofA were to be able to prove that they promoted an atmosphere of compliance, and that Book indeed acted on his own, then the NCAA’s case against Arizona becomes weaker.

So while you can listen to some of the local media who seemingly hate Sean Miller already, you will likely believe the doom and gloom scenarios that have been pontificated.

However, my personal opinion (if you care to hear it), is that you can draw some comparisons to Louisville, but they are not exactly the same situations. And if you’re having trouble digesting that point, please re-read what was previously outlined above.

Now look, I can be objective just as well, and admit that the optics for Arizona Basketball are certainly not good. And if I were a betting man, I would bet that Arizona likely gets hit. The question is just how bad will it all be?

Of course that is hard to quantify at this point because the NCAA can be so unpredictable, however, using Louisville as the proverbial barometer to what will happen with Arizona is a bit shortsighted and foolish if I may be so blunt.

So in essence, we just don’t know, and making blanketed assumptions and character assassinations based on nothing proven or known at this point doesn’t make it look as if you’re taking the moral high ground, it makes you look lazy.

Anyways, that’s just my thoughts on the matter? Do you agree or disagree with that stance? Let us know, and as always, Bear Down!