Syracuse generally gets good press and with Jim Boeheim's key role with the national team (he's essentially the zone specialist), he's gotten some really favorable publicity.
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Yet there's always been a bit of stench around the program.
The Bernie Fine situation was part of it: the former assistant was accused of pedophilia, but never charged; meanwhile, his wife was alleged to have had sex with Syracuse players.
It was sort of the classic situation there, where there were allegations and some indications but nothing definite.
That was like the Michael Carter-Williams shoplifting incident, where he had to sign a form acknowledging that he did it but was never charged.
Fab Melo was charged with criminal mischief in 2011, Josh Wright with patronizing a prostitute, Eric Devendorf, hit a girl in the face, Scoop Jardine was involved in a minor identity theft; he and others were charged with sexual assault.
Billy Edelin was accused of rape in 2001, Michael Lloyd falsified his JUCO transcript, and on and on.
You can basically break it down to brawling and oafish behavior at best, or sexual violence at worst with a smattering of the standard sort of academic fraud which pops up at universities with significant programs.
Currently, though, Syracuse is being investigated by the NCAA. Not everything is public but part of it may stem from academic issues for James Southerland, or possibly a significant loan to Donte Green's uncle.
Now, though, comes word that Syracuse may have allowed players to play despite repeatedly failing drug policies.
According to Syracuse.com, one player said the the NCAA had spoken to him about this specifically.
The NCAA did say that Syracuse self-reported the violations, which may date back to the early part of the century.
Jim Boeheim, in what could be a parody of Jim Boeheim, said this: "I don’t know anything about it. I would not comment on anything like that. Good luck with your story."
Meanwhile, at the other end of the bloated ACC, Fox Sports asks a loaded question: "how dirty is Jimbo Fisher?"
People have kind of avoided saying stuff like this: "Continuing to protect and shield Jameis Winston while saying you have no reason to doubt his word is one of the dirtiest coaching moves of modern college football. It's just a blatant lie from Jimbo too and no one calls him on it. "
Well, someone has.