Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

There is a double-standard in college athletics, where current players for a program get punished for the past actions of a long-gone coach. Think of the Memphis basketball program, where any player wanting to get off that wounded ship would be forced to sit out a year while John Calipari, the coach who led the Tigers to the championship game and the numerous infractions that wrecked the program, bounced off scot-free to the blue grass of Kentucky.

In a decision reached on Wednesday, the NCAA is hinting that infraction-prone coaches will have to deal with their reputations and repercussions, wherever they go. Exhibit A: Bruce Pearl, former basketball coach of the University of Tennessee Volunteers:

The NCAA said it wanted to send a clear message by slapping Bruce Pearl with a three-year show-cause penalty: Coaches are responsible for their programs.

The sanctions announced Wednesday make it harder for the former Tennessee men's basketball coach to get another college job anytime soon. Pearl is prohibited from recruiting during the next three years, and a school would have to convince the NCAA to have that penalty removed if it hired him.

The NCAA said Wednesday it had punished Pearl for lying to investigators about improperly hosting recruits at his home and urging others to do the same.

Will this stop nefarious coaches from bending the rules with a "Get Out of Jail" card in their back pocket? It won't stop them outright, but it will give them pause, knowing that the double-standard is getting to the point where it's not the standard anymore.