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Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy trashes NCAA in wake of FBI investigation into college basketball
By Kevin Duffey
Published:
Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy has had enough of the NCAA, and he wants everyone to know about it.
On Sunday, Van Gundy spoke to reporters before the Pistons game against the Hornets — a game Detroit lost 114-98, and he pulled no punches when reflecting on the NCAA, calling it “one of the worst organizations” in sports.
“The NCAA is one of the worst organizations — maybe the worst organization — in sports,” Van Gundy told reporters, via ESPN. “They certainly don’t care about the athlete. They’re going to act like they’re appalled by all these things going on in college basketball. Please — it’s ridiculous, and it’s all coming down on the coaches.”
Van Gundy’s comments come in the wake of the FBI investigation into college basketball. The two most recent reports — Yahoo! Sports’ and ESPN’s — paint a rather dim picture on the sport as a whole as it stands right now. Yahoo! Sports report identified more than 20 programs that could be breaking NCAA rules, and ESPN’s report said that Arizona head coach Sean Miller discussed a $100K payment to sign then-5-star Deandre Ayton. Ayton is one of the top players in the country this season.
But Van Gundy didn’t just hound the NCAA; he also criticized the NBA’s one-and-done rule, calling it “racist.”
“People that were against [players] coming out [of high school] made a lot of excuses, but I think a lot of it was racist. I’ve never heard anybody go up in arms about [minor league baseball or hockey],” Van Gundy told reporters. “They are not making big money, and they’re white kids primarily and nobody has a problem.”
“But all of a sudden you’ve got a black kid that wants to come out of high school and make millions. That’s a bad decision, but bypassing college to go play for $800 a month in minor league baseball? That’s a fine decision? What the hell is going on?”
Van Gundy has certainly always been known to speak his mind.
A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
