COLUMN: NCAA oversteps by suspending Maason Smith
LSU will have to wait an extra week for the anticipated return of Maason Smith.
The star will miss LSU’s opener against Florida State after the NCAA handed down a one game suspension, according to Wilson Alexander of The Advocate.
Smith tore his ACL early against Florida State in 2022 and missed the entirety of the season.
Per the report, this suspension stems from an autograph signing in July 2021. Smith was just a freshman and hadn’t even played a game yet. Name, image and likeness deals weren’t legal but would be a few weeks later.
Smith would have served the suspension last year if it weren’t for his injury. Now that Smith is healthy, the NCAA is officially enforcing it.
Here's the issue
We know what Smith did was against the rules at the time. Nobody is going to debate that.
But here’s where we enter a moral discussion.
Those rules, just like anything with the NCAA, lacked consistency. This is an organization with no uniform standard for severity of punishments. Maybe you can find a rulebook somewhere that lays out a procedure, but you won’t find it put into practice.
It’s always been a game of pick and choose. Smith and LSU cooperated here and it didn’t result in leniency.
And lets imagine consistent enforcement ever existed. The rules being enforced weren’t good ones anyway. It’s why they were stuck down by the Supreme Court just a few weeks later and the NIL era began.
This is a bad look for the NCAA
It’s been a bad few years for the NCAA. It’s suffered loss after loss in the court system and it can’t get the support it wants from congress. This suspension looks like the NCAA trying to hold on to whatever power it has left. And it’s not much.
It’s still not clear what the NCAA can do in a time where NIL is legal. State laws have made it difficult for the NCAA create regulation in the NIL space. That’s probably a good thing.
Maybe that’s why the NCAA is reaching back two years.
If the point of a punishment is deter other teams and players from breaking the rules, than what use does this serve? The NCAA doesn’t need to deter autograph signings anymore because it’s now legal. This is strictly punitive on the NCAA’s part.
Why didn't last year's injury count as the suspension?
You don’t see this in other leagues.
If a player happens to get hurt while in the process of being suspended, the suspension isn’t delayed until he’s healthy. Plenty of MLB and NFL players have served out their suspensions while recovering from an injury.
LSU should be able to count Smith’s missed time last year as the suspension. The NCAA doing this now seems rather cruel.
How does this affect LSU's chances vs. Florida State?
The morning after the suspension, the betting line hasn’t changed.
Smith is a significant loss and LSU could use his services against one of the best offenses in the country, but it doesn’t change the outlook for the game too much.
A team ranked in the top five should be able to work with a absence like this. LSU’s defense didn’t have Smith last year and turned out fine. They’re no stranger to this situation.
Mekhi Wingo will have to play like the third-team All-American he did last year. The transfers LSU added on the DL will also step-up.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1389]
