What has more drama: the NCAA or Jerry Springer?

I'm sick of it.

College basketball has become a cesspool, the offseason as full of over the top drama as an episode of Jerry Springer. This summer has been no different, as there as seemingly been a constant stream of negative news regarding out beloved sport.

And I'm not even talking about tournament expansion or conference realignment.

We've had starters -- and stars -- for teams in and around the top 25 getting arrested. We've had two different stories break regarding one student's high school transcript, while an incoming recruit has been denied eligibility due to questionable grades. We've had high school stars hold multiple press conferences to announce where they will be attending college. We've had two different incoming recruits, one foreign and one domestic, be accussed of receiving in excess of six figures before they reached 18 years old. Another star recruit has not yet been cleared as the NCAA investigates his association with Carmelo Anthony's agent, while a number of high schoolers were forced to jump through hoops to adhere to the entirely unfair LOI rules. We've seen not one, but two nationally ranked programs self-impose sanctions as a result of illegal phone calls. One of those programs could be in even more trouble as their photogenic head coach continues to dig himself a deeper hole.

There's more.

Is Michael Dunigan the latest in a string of embarrassments for the NCAA?
(photo credit: Seattle Times)

Late last night, The Register-Guard broke the news that Michael Dunigan, a former McDonald's all-american center from Chicago that played two inconsistent seasons at Oregon, may have left the school for Israel because he was ineligible.

According to sources, the investigation by UO officials came about because of allegations that Dunigan’s eligibility had been compromised by extra benefits provided to him, in violation of NCAA rules. Multiple sources with contacts in the UO basketball program were uncertain about the nature of the alleged benefits or who provided them.

However, all agreed that Oregon was asking questions about the allegations before Dunigan took the unexpected route of signing with the Hapoel Migdal team in Jerusalem.

He may not have been alone.

The University of Oregon would only say that they are investigating the eligibility of "former players" the past two seasons. Nine different people fall under that umbrella.

This only adds to what has been a brutal offseason for Duck fans. They let go off Ernie Kent, and proceeded to go on a long, embarrassing journey through coaches before finally convincing Creighton's Dana Altman to head to Eugene. Four players transferred, and Malcolm Armstead was nearly the fifth, before Dunigan made his decision to leave. Assistant coach Kenny Payne who recruited Dunigan to Oregon, left the Ducks for Kentucky. With players facing injury and academic issues, not to mention to newly aroused eligibility questions, Altman had to cancel a team trip to Italy.

Back to my point, I'm sick of hearing about all of this. I'm sick of writing about how x, y, and z will effect Coach A's job or player B's eligibility. I'm sick of talking about how this NCAA violation is usually punished, and how that punishment could effect an institution.

There's a saying -- if you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin' -- and no where is that statement more true than in our world of amateur basketball in the country. Its a cutthroat business that, at best, is mildly policed by the idiotic NCAA, and, at worst, a free for all where the country's best youg players are getting cars and houses and six figure paydays.

And maybe all this scandal being reported is a good thing. As bad as our sport looks right now, getting exposed as a liar and a cheater by the media is a surefire way for a coach to get punished by the NCAA. Maybe sending a few coaches and agents and runners to get hanged in the court of public opinion is the best way to change the system. Given the crackdown that new NCAA president Mark Emmert has said he wants in college sports, maybe the recent string of NCAA violators -- in both football and basketball -- is a sign that things are changing.

Maybe all of this is a good thing.

But maybe I'm just naive.

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Arizona State catches a break, gets Rihard Kuksiks back

Herb Sendek caught a huge break on Thursday as Rihards Kuksiks decided to return to Tempe for his senior season.

Kuksiks was the Sun Devils leading scorer last season, but there were concerns that the 6'6" Latvian sharpshooter would opt to play professionally in Europe instead of returning to school. He spent much of August in Europe competing for Latvia in the 2011 European Championships, which increased the speculation that he wasn't coming back.

Rihard Kuksiks has decided to return to Arizona State.
(photo credit: AZStarnet)

If Kuksiks had departed, it wouldn't have been a shock. Leaving college to, essentially, play in basketball's minor leagues abroad is slowly becoming a fad. Last summer, Nick Calathes, Terrence Oglesby, and David Huertas all left school for an overseas contract. This year, Manhattan's Rico Pickett and UC-Riverside's Kyle Austin have both headed abroad, while reports have Michael Dunigan going to Israel. Greedy Peterson is headed to Greece, but he was kicked out of school.

But Kuksiks is coming back, which means that Arizona State will have their best shooter. Kuksiks will help to keep the floor spread for slashers like Ty Abbott and Trent Lockett.

Arizona State has a really good group of player on their perimeter. There is scoring, there are shooters, there are athletes. When this club gets hot, they are going to be tough to beat.

When I wrote my Pac-10 preview a week ago, I did it under the impression that Kuksiks was gone. I picked Arizona State sixth. Now, that looks like it is too low.

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