Shouldn't UCLA's Wooden dynasty have an asterisk beside it?

Question

Since Sam Gilbert was paying the UCLA players during practically the entire period of their dominance under Wooden?

Bill Walton admitted that Gilbert paid the players and bought them clothes and cars, and stated that if the NCAA had bothered to investigate the Gilbert connection UCLA would have been under NCAA suspension for hundreds of years.

Wooden knew what was going on too. He confronted one of his players who showed up with a new coat and said, "Did you get this from Sam Gilbert? I don't like this."

In fact, UCLA WAS put on probation for Gilbert's pay-for-play scheme after Wooden had retired. Funny though, Wooden just abruptly announced his retirement out of the blue. Somebody in the NCAA tipped Wooden to step down so the whole house of cards wouldn't have to fall down, ya think?

Any other program without the UCLA pedigree doing the same thing in the modern era would get hammered by the NCAA, so shouldn't UCLA's championships under Wooden have an asterisk?

Answer 1

are you speaking the truth? and nothing but the truth?

Answer 2

This week THOUSANDS of office pools will be started and someone from each of those pools will be winning HUNDREDS of dollars from the college basketball action set to take place. CBS pays MILLIONS of dollars for the rights to broadcast the games and the UNIVERSITIES, COACHES, ATHLETIC DIRECTORS, TEAM TRAINERS, RADIO ANNOUNCERS, ETC. all make a boatload of money from it.

Somehow all of that is okay as long as no player receives a jacket. Come on man, it never bothers me to hear college players make money look how much money they bring in for the college. It's absurd some kid who's parents maybe combined don't make $30,000 a yr, and everyone gets all upset if some booster buys the kid a jacket or a stereo or tickets to a concert or even a car. Where's the crime? Because the NCAA says so? The NCAA is not a Law Enforcement agency lets point that out. They are a hypocritical bunch of B@stards if you ask me

Answer 3

I think I probably side with the respondent who thinks we should leave well enough alone.
Too much time has passed to diminish U.C.L.A.'s run.....

I do remember the rules committee coming down hard on Tark when he was at UCLB..... but even then they didn't put them on probation. Lefty @ U of Maryland was in hot water then, too; no probation.

All that said, it does seem that the NCAA has tightened up it's enforcement, and laid out punishment equally since.

I like the comparison to 'roids. Are you going to put an * after every record from this era or that era?

Sports evolve, and we should live in the now.

Answer 4

It's similar to the Bonds on roids thing to me! Leave it alone, cause we may find out more than we want to know! For instance, Bonds IS NOT the only player who took roids and I'm sure we'd find out that UCLA wasn't the only big program to be paying for play in that era!

I don't want to keep tainting my images of these great memories by going on witch hunts. All these things have been cleaned up now anyway.

Do we wanna put asterisks beside everone of MLB players who used greenies through the 70's? Still cheating? Let the past alone and grow old remembering these things as great.

Answer 5

**** man what a predicament I think this should be investigated thoroughly by the NCAA and yes I thenk they should have an asterisk.

Answer 6

Sure, AFTER the NCAA does the same thing to Rupp's records.

Answer 7

NO AND A THOUSAND TIMES NO. U ARE DEALING IN PURE SPECULATION.

WOODEN STEPPED DOWN BECAUSE IT WAS TIME.

WHO IS YOUR TEAM, KENTUCKY OR CAROLINA?

Answer 8

You would think!