NCAA Continues To Punish Schools By Taking Scholarships From Kids That Did Nothing Wrong

After a three-year investigation, the NCAA placed the University of Miami football and men's basketball teams on probation, with the biggest punishment being a loss of four scholarships (3 in football, 1 in basketball) each year for the next three years.

While many will argue whether or not the penalties were harsh enough, what is undeniable is that four kids will lose scholarships because of a scandal they had absolutely nothing to do with.

The common perception is that the athletes aren't hurt because the four kids that would have received scholarships to go to Miami will just accept scholarships to go to a different school.

But it is not that simple.

When those kids go to another school, they will be taking a scholarship away from somebody else that would have been offered the scholarship had Miami not been put on probation. Then, when those kids that lose out on a scholarship, they will go to another school and take a scholarship that would have gone to another athlete.

In the end, the NCAA may have weakened the Miami football program slightly. But more importantly, they reduced the overall number of athletic scholarships that are available at NCAA member schools.

At the end of the chain reaction that began with an NCAA investigation in 2011, there will be four deserving kids that had absolutely nothing to do with the Miami scandal that will either have to pay for college in 2014, or worse, they won't be able to go to college at all because they can't afford it.

In an era when there is a movement to find a way to get more money into the pockets of deserving athletes, the NCAA keeps finding ways to make more innocent kids pay.