They’re coming to see you.

John Pennington posts a mixed bag of suggestions on how the NCAA, with its limited enforcement resources, might better rein in bad behavior on the part of its member institutions.  One idea in particular has some merit for me.

… But in addition to dropping a heavier hammer, the NCAA also must create a greater fear of capture.  Drug tests are given at random.  The IRS pulls a number of tax returns each year for random audits.  A team’s bed checks are often done at random, too.  If the NCAA wants to scare the cheat out of programs, they should also go random.

In addition to following the usual tips and leads, the governing body should pull a different Division I school’s name from a hat once a month.  The body should then outsource the initial dirt-gathering phase to a contracted third-party (in order to get around its current staffing issues).

If the preliminary sweep turns up any unscrupulous behavior, then the NCAA can launch a full-scale investigation.  If not, then the school breathes a sigh of relief.

Either way, coaches and programs would have more incentive to stay clean.  With 12 schools getting random spot-checks each year, the odds of getting caught would rise.  And that is a further deterrence.

My law practice is audited on a regular basis.  Although we don’t know exactly when an audit will be scheduled until we’re contacted, we know that we can expect them over a certain period of time.  The process works well, both as an added motivation for us to follow required procedures, but also as a means of receiving feedback on ways in which we could improve how things are managed.

Of course, as the banking industry has proven time and time again, audits only get positive results when the parties employing the auditors take the audits seriously and act on what turns up.  You never know with the NCAA, but I don’t see how it could be any worse than much of the self-reporting with a wink we’ve seen from many schools  ***cough***Tennessee***cough*** over the past few seasons.