Reggie Bush has his Heisman Trophy back and is suing the NCAA for defamation to restore his reputation. Marcus Camby and UMass should be paying close attention.
UMass should file an official appeal to the NCAA to restore its vacated 1996 Final Four and Camby’s good name. They should also give the NCAA a heads-up that a lawsuit will follow if it denies that appeal.
Camby’s case isn’t identical to Bush’s, but if the former NFL running back wins — and even if he doesn’t — Camby not only has a potential case legally, but fighting him in court forces the NCAA once again into an unpopular position.
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To review for anyone whose details got fuzzy in the last 28 years: The NCAA accused Marcus Camby of — and he admitted to — taking money and gifts from agents, who had hoped to eventually represent him in the NBA. This all began and occurred during his junior season leading the NCAA to vacate UMass’ appearance in the Final Four. UConn’s Sweet Sixteen Appearance was also vacated for two Huskies taking gifts from the same agent.
None of what Camby received was contingent upon him going to UMass. None of it came from the school. Nothing he did gave himself or UMass a competitive advantage. The “violation” was that a poor kid didn’t turn down gifts and money, while he got nothing from thousands of sales of UMass jerseys with his No. 21 on them.
Camby did nothing actually illegal. He simply violated NCAA rules that shouldn’t have been on the books to begin with. Those rules have since been abolished because actual courts have recognized the absurdity of the NCAA’s attempts to preserve the illusion of amateurism in a billion-dollar industry.
Businesses can give kids cars now and collectives can give them money. Athletes can hire agents while still in college to negotiate their name, image and likeness deals.
The NCAA chose to deliver no significant penalties to Kansas for its Adidas scandal, which did give the Jayhawks a competitive advantage, or North Carolina for its academic fraud. Yet somehow kids taking some money at a time when the NCAA rules forced them to be poor on campus are still treated like pariahs.
After helping to make the NCAA money as a college athlete, Camby, perhaps foolishly, tried to do the right thing and cooperated with the investigation. He even repaid the money to UMass (through a donation to the library) that the school was fined for his violation. Had stayed quiet and gave that money to a lawyer, who knows how this would have turned out? Years later despite earning millions in the NBA, he finished his college degree.
The NCAA should celebrate how he’s carried himself and treat him like a special part of its history. It looks pettier and pettier every year trying to hold on to old punishments for rules that have since been struck down.
In light of the changes to college athletics, the NCAA should vacate any penalties to Camby or UMass, to Kirk King, Ricky Moore and UConn and anybody else whose rule-breaking did nothing to impact competitive fairness. It shouldn’t take a lawsuit to get there either. Forced or not, its time for the NCAA to embrace its own evolution.
Tangibly those penalties don’t really matter. UMass still displays its 1996 Final Four banner at the Mullins Center, Camby’s Number 21 hangs alongside it and a statue of him is outside.
Still, whatever remnants of the cloud that has hung over his career should be removed. It’s the right thing to do.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
