Hi everyone, I wrote to Mr. Lennon today and I received a response from him. It wasn't an automated response.
"Mr. Lennon,
Not only do I find your ruling on the Lucca Staiger case at Iowa State
University to be ridiculous, I find the entire new rule to be appalling.
You are single handedly changing the minds some of the bright student
athletes coming from Europe for them. Why would they want to sit out a year when
they could receive an education at home and play professionally (and actually
get paid, not just play without compensation)?
The fact that Lucca did nothing wrong and is getting punished seriously
irritates me. How can you punish a kid for being a "professional" when
hedidn't even get paid? Your rule should not be so complicated! It
should state "if you get paid to play, you can not play." End of story, no further
explanation needed. The "better than you" mentality that your
organization has shown even most recently with your headine to "reinstate" Lucca when you
are actually upholding a suspension is just further proof that some serious
restructuring is needed in college athletics, with or without the
"NCAA".
Even if you are going to uphold this suspension no matter what, why are
only some players such as Lucca being targeted? Why not target all players
who are in the exact same situation including many who are playing RIGHT NOW at
many college institutions? Is the NCAA afraid to hand out true punishments
to "big name schools"? When I hear about cheating at other schools like USC,
Texas, Oklahoma, I think "great, they are getting caught and punished and
should learn a lesson" only to realize that the only punishment they are receiving is
a slap on the wrist instead of true punishments like suspensions. If the NCAA
is to be taken seriously, it needs to truly be fair and just. Right now the NCAA
is neither fair, nor just.
I hope Iowa State University aggressively brings to light this situation
to the mass media. Everyone deserves to know how unfairly you are treating
Lucca Staiger and how much of a joke the NCAA really is.
Thanks for your time and I truly hope the NCAA changes its current views
and protocols."
Response:
"Thanks for writing. The rules of the NCAA are adopted by our schools- noone in the national office adopts a single rule.
To date, no school or conference has even introduced a rule change over
the last five years. You may be interested to know that an attempt was
made to change the rules in the way you suggest, but the NCAA membership
voted it down. In fact, the current standard has been reviewed twice
over the last two years and the committees overseeing this area ( again,
made up of individuals from our schools and not NCAA staff) and elected
to make no changes.
If Iowa State or any other school wants to change the rule, they can
introduce legislation, and we would help them through this process. The
NCAA is a membership organization- our schools make the rules.
Thanks for writing.
Kevin"
"Mr. Lennon,
Not only do I find your ruling on the Lucca Staiger case at Iowa State
University to be ridiculous, I find the entire new rule to be appalling.
You are single handedly changing the minds some of the bright student
athletes coming from Europe for them. Why would they want to sit out a year when
they could receive an education at home and play professionally (and actually
get paid, not just play without compensation)?
The fact that Lucca did nothing wrong and is getting punished seriously
irritates me. How can you punish a kid for being a "professional" when
hedidn't even get paid? Your rule should not be so complicated! It
should state "if you get paid to play, you can not play." End of story, no further
explanation needed. The "better than you" mentality that your
organization has shown even most recently with your headine to "reinstate" Lucca when you
are actually upholding a suspension is just further proof that some serious
restructuring is needed in college athletics, with or without the
"NCAA".
Even if you are going to uphold this suspension no matter what, why are
only some players such as Lucca being targeted? Why not target all players
who are in the exact same situation including many who are playing RIGHT NOW at
many college institutions? Is the NCAA afraid to hand out true punishments
to "big name schools"? When I hear about cheating at other schools like USC,
Texas, Oklahoma, I think "great, they are getting caught and punished and
should learn a lesson" only to realize that the only punishment they are receiving is
a slap on the wrist instead of true punishments like suspensions. If the NCAA
is to be taken seriously, it needs to truly be fair and just. Right now the NCAA
is neither fair, nor just.
I hope Iowa State University aggressively brings to light this situation
to the mass media. Everyone deserves to know how unfairly you are treating
Lucca Staiger and how much of a joke the NCAA really is.
Thanks for your time and I truly hope the NCAA changes its current views
and protocols."
Response:
"Thanks for writing. The rules of the NCAA are adopted by our schools- noone in the national office adopts a single rule.
To date, no school or conference has even introduced a rule change over
the last five years. You may be interested to know that an attempt was
made to change the rules in the way you suggest, but the NCAA membership
voted it down. In fact, the current standard has been reviewed twice
over the last two years and the committees overseeing this area ( again,
made up of individuals from our schools and not NCAA staff) and elected
to make no changes.
If Iowa State or any other school wants to change the rule, they can
introduce legislation, and we would help them through this process. The
NCAA is a membership organization- our schools make the rules.
Thanks for writing.
Kevin"
