Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame and a member of the independent Commission on College Basketball, offered the following statement Wednesday (April 25) following the release of the commission’s recommendations:
“With its recommendations today, the commission seeks to sound the death knell of the educational sham that is ‘one and done,’ restore integrity to the game and otherwise remind us that a college’s first obligation to its athletes is a good education.”
Established in October by the NCAA Board of Governors, Division I Board of Directors and NCAA President Mark Emmert, the commission has examined critical aspects of Division I men’s basketball in the wake of recent investigations into the sport by the FBI.
In addition to Father Jenkins, five other members of the commission have ties to Notre Dame: chair Condoleezza Rice, an alumna of the University and a former U.S. secretary of state; Association of American Universities President Mary Sue Coleman and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and retired Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, both honorary degree recipients; NBA Hall of Fame player David Robinson, the parent of recent Notre Dame graduate Corey Robinson; and alumnus Gene Smith, athletic director at Ohio State University.
A news release on the commission’s recommendations and its full report are available online at www.basketballcommission.org.