The NCAA Is Facing a Crossroads
On Saturday, the Duke men’s basketball team walloped Rhode Island, 87–62, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, earning the program’s 24th Sweet 16 berth in the past 33 years. The performance showed off many of the characteristics that make the second-seeded Blue Devils a national-championship contender: suffocating defense, balanced scoring, selfless passing. It was a satisfying win for one of the country’s premier basketball programs.
But as impressive as the victory was, it’s entirely possible that it could one day be vacated by the NCAA, as if it never happened. That’s because one of Duke’s five double-digit scorers in the contest was a freshman forward named Wendell Carter Jr.; he’s among the many hoops stars alleged to have violated the NCAA’s amateurism rules in connection with a national recruiting scandal.
, Carter’s mother met with, and possibly accepted a free meal from, Christian Dawkins—a runner for the NBA agent Andy Miller and
