Georgia AD: Scandal Good for College Basketball

At least one Division I basketball program sees the recent corruption scandal as a good thing.

Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity recently told the Athens Banner-Herald about he and head coach Matt Fox’s initial reaction to the FBI’s probe of NCAA basketball.

“We both have been in agreement from day one that it’s probably the best thing that’s ever happened to college basketball,” McGarity told the Banner-Herald. “It helps eliminate a part of the game that people have suspected has been out there, but until the feds stepped in and the Department of Justice with subpoena power and all of the repercussions of wiretapping and getting people to cooperate, that’s a whole other level of scrutiny. I think those that have chosen to play in that pool so to speak are pretty nervous right now. 

McGarity added that he’s “pretty confident” that the scandal goes a lot deeper than those who have currently been implicated.

Georgia is in the process of reviewing its own system after the NCAA asked all schools to examine their programs for potential abuses.

McGarity said Georgia has tried to remain transparent and is always looking at where it may have problems. “We are extremely confident in Mark Fox and the way he runs his program,” he said. “We know what goes on, but I think for you to sit back and assume, I think there’s certain things you double check, you triple check. I don’t sense any problems in those areas.”