"On December 18, 2009, Phillips was sentenced to more than 31 years in prison for attacking his girlfriend and driving his car into three teens.[12] Phillips, California Department of Corrections# G31982, was admitted to the CDCR on October 16, 2008. As of April 22, 2012, he is incarcerated in Kern Valley State Prison.[13] Under California law, since his crimes harmed other persons he must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for time off with good behavior. He will not be eligible for release until he serves 26 years—when he will be 57 years old." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Phillips

I had to google Lawrence Phillips. WTF?

that shows criminal misbehavior be more likely to cut him loose rather than risk NCAA retribution for harboring/nurturing a criminal?

Or will these sanctions against Penn State act as a wake up call to Athletic Directors that want to win at ALL costs?

and force them to do their jobs when they hear scandals out of their sainted athletics departments.

I hope it works.

Most coaches and AD get to walk away from Universities Scott free while those that follow have to suck up the punishment. Heck even Joe Pa is dead. He got to die the winningest coach in college football and being dead it is not like you can reanimate him to show him ha ha we took it away. So long as coaches can walk away to get elected to congress, get million dollar paydays in the NFL until they can either retire or make their way back to another college program I'd say nothing will be learned. Watch the ESPN special on SMU. Only those that followed into the SMU program suffered. The guilty people all pretty much got away with it. Heck Craig James gets to be on TV and complain about all that college corruption. What a joke.

that he did not want to jeopardize Phillips chances in the pros. This after he violently beat and dragged his girl friend down some stairs. She was the one that got attacked by the fine folks of Nebraska because her accusations endangered Phillip's ability to play.

Phillips is one of the most egregious cases ever. The saintly Tom Osborne did that at Nebraska.

Athletic departments need to have programs set up to help freshmen become fully integrated into the university. It's not an easy transition for many kids much less those with practices on top of an academic schedule.

My alma mater has two people specifically assigned in the football program to keep track of players who need help. The two in those positions are great choices for that job, and they don't take any crap. They do work with coaches and do not toss kids out before they try certain steps.

Penn State was an aberration in its size, length, and nature. It encompassed many people covering up, lasted at least 14 years, and involved the rape of children. Everybody seems to think this is a precedent for the NCAA to step in on any criminal matter. I don't think they have unless, gawd forbid, another scandal of this scope is uncovered.

If universities and their athletic departments take steps to seriously deal with an issue, then they are already on the right track. The NCAA wants people to handle problems forthrightly and set up procedures to deal with them. They want any standards developed to be followed and not just given lip service.