In the last week, Sonny Vaccaro has spoken at two academic events -- Santa Clara Law School's
sports law symposium on the proper role for sports in higher education and an event at Southern Methodist University related to Vaccaro's arguments for student-athletes and compensation. He also found time to
speak with Eric Prisbell of USA Today about alleged wrongdoing at Duke and UNC. Vaccaro says the NCAA lacks the guts to punish these schools. Here's an excerpt:
"Pull back the curtain and the wizard is not there," Vaccaro said of the schools over lunch Monday. "They are all the same . . . The NCAA does not have the guts to do the right thing for everyone. They do it for a chosen few. The rules are made according to them, for them." ..... If wrongdoing is found at North Carolina and Duke, Vaccaro said, "You've got to impose whatever the right penalty is. It has got to be done. If you gave the eye test to the American public -- like Notre Dame and some other anointed schools -- they will get a pass. And that's not right."
The NCAA disagrees:
Said the NCAA's Stacey Osburn in an email Monday to USA TODAY Sports: "Sonny is wrong. Member institutions make the rules and expect that all schools abide by them. When they don't, there are consequences, regardless of who is involved."
For more on the allegations against Duke and UNC, see Prisbell's
story.