Impact Of NCAA Sanctions Against Penn State May Go Beyond University & Football
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- NCAA officials say their sanctions are meant to punish and correct Penn State's football program, but the impact is likely to extend much further.
Read NCAA sanctions against Penn State.
Studies show a connection between athletic success and increases in applications at a school, but the impact of a retrenchment of the sort forced on Penn State is unknown.
"The measures taken have to be considered crippling in every way to Penn State University," says Temple Athletic Director Bill Bradshaw. "To the university itself, to enrollment."
When Timber Creek High School defensive tackle Greg Webb announced he was backing out of his commitment to Penn State on Saturday, his coach insisted it had nothing to do with the pending NCAA sanctions, but now that those sanctions have been announced, even the NCAA is anticipating others will follow Webb out the door.
"Obviously, what happened to Penn State today is going to impact a lot of people and how they recruit, how coaches recruit," Bradshaw says. "It's going to be a crippling thing for Penn State and obviously it's going to reverberate through Division I athletics."
Joan Mazzotti of Philadelphia Futures agrees that students looking for that big football school atmosphere may now look elsewhere, but she says academically, prospective students shouldn't be discouraged.
"There are really wonderful people, really dedicated professionals at Penn State who are doing really fine work," Mazzotti says.
And the impact won't stop at Penn State. Its loss is likely to be a win for other big football schools.
