The University of Louisville has decided to put the imminent future of the men’s basketball program into the Independent Accountability Resolution Process, or IARP, to decide upon the what, if any, punishment that the school should receive for its involvement in the FBI investigation which has been the dark cloud over the program for years now.

The school’s administration chose the IARP over letting the multi-billion dollar racket up I-65 in Indianapolis to handle it, with the caveat of once this committee reaches its ultimate decision, there is no appeal. The ruling is final. So relatively-new Athletic Director Vince Tyra and crew went all-in with UofL’s basketball fate.

The independent route was chosen because, as per their announcement, the school feels that the NCAA has “prejudged” UofL based on the organization’s response to UofL’s response in the back-and-forth ping-pong of alleged infractions, accusations, response to those alleged infractions, response to the response, and so on and so on for what seems like forever now. All the while giving competitor schools recruiting leverage over Coach Chris Mack.

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And at this point, why not? Based on the Indy response, they were having none of it. The NCAA was bound to drop some morally repugnant decision that would cripple UofL and make it easier for their favorite schools to keep on doing what they do, and using UofL as an example to show their, ahem, “muscle.”

So UofL has chosen the path of the unknown, banking on the feeling that there’s pretty much no way the IARP could be any worse than the comedy of errors that runs college basketball.

Five other teams have all gone this route, including teams from four of the five power conferences. N.C. State, Kansas, LSU, Arizona and Memphis State are all still waiting on their decisions, have been for months, with not much indication that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

If there’s any good news in the early stages of this decision is that the bio’s of the Independent Resolution Panel, or IRP, list no members that might have any obvious ties to questionable backgrounds that might influence the decision unfairly. Of course, this is speculation, but over the last few years Card Nation has been through the ringer and some or most of it has hints of shadiness in the shadows.

The IRP consists of 15 members:

IRP Administrative Officer, is Hugh Fraser of JAMS, INC. He got his undergrad from Queens University and his doctorate from the University of Ottawa.

  • Jodi Balsam – Brooklyn Law School, degrees from NYU and Yale
  • David Benck- American Arbitration Association, degrees Birmingham Southern College and Alabama
  • Jeffrey Benz- JAMS, INC., degrees from Michigan and Texas
  • Mary Braza- Foley and Lardner, LLC, degrees from Cornell
  • Bernetta Bush- JAMS, INC, degrees from Northeastern Illinois and DePaul
  • Joan Cronan- Retired from University of Tennessee, degrees from LSU and the United States Sports Academy
  • Javier Flores– Dinsmore and Shohl, LLC, degrees from UConn and Kenyon College
  • Corey Jackson, University of California, degrees from Miami and Virginia Tech
  • Nona Lee– Arizona Diamondbacks, degrees from Oklahoma City University
  • Bruce Meyerson– Bruce Meyerson PLLC, degrees from Arizona State and Georgetown
  • Tracy Porter– Premiere Solutions and former NFL player, degrees from LSU and Wharton
  • Michelle Pujals– Tautemo Consulting, LLC, degrees from Boston U and Georgetown
  • Christina Sarchio– Dechert LLP, degrees from Cornell and George Washington
  • Dana Welch– Welch ADR, degrees from Cal Berkeley

Here’s the link to the full bio’s if you want more: https://iarpcc.org/independent-resolution-panel/

So nothing jumps out and screams at a jaded UofL fan, at least on paper, and judging by the credentials of the members, they are highly educated and are presumably smart enough to know how to push emotion out of the picture or to allow fandom to their alma maters play a part in decisions.

Tyra seems to have made the good call here. Hopefully we’ll know soon, but in the meantime keep an eye out for the decisions and time frames of those decisions in regards to the school in front of UofL in the independent arbiter line. Now the fan base will wait and see if the firing squad delivers hollow-points or silly string.

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By Steve Springer

Steve Springer is a lifelong University of Louisville fan and was Volvo's "Biggest Fan of the Big East" in 2011. He's a sportswriter for the Murray Ledger & Times, in addition to teaching physical education. He graduated from Eastern High School, earned a Master's degree from the University of Louisville and his BS degree at Murray State University. His Twitter handle is @racercard.

5 thoughts on “UofL puts future in hands of IARP, so whose hands are they?”
  1. You got that right, Mikey. All the educational institutions that preach fairness, equality and tolerance are the worst when it comes to doing the right things. And they’re teaching their hate to our kids.

    1. You may have something there, Norm. They seem to be going overboard in the opposite direction much of the time. As much as I admire some of the things the UofL administration is doing, the reality is leadership has to come from within. Attaining equality or equity can’t be mandated or legislated. Should be clear if not obvious by now.

  2. There is so much competition between schools and so much alumni-ego involved that schools tend to punish as many schools as they can. To hell with doing the right thing, confessing to the deed, cleaning the slate, this is their chance to put another school down and they’re going to embrace the opportunity. That’s the way academia is and it’s only getting worse.

  3. There’s now a race between the basketball purgatory and the Covid-19 virus to see which one can last the longest. I’m betting the virus is gone long before the UofL’s dark cloud has disappeared. The only school with worst luck is Michigan State but the Spartans don’t get probation — just black eyes and scorn.

  4. The real amazement is that it seems this cluster will never be over. Doesn’t matter what the school does — fire everybody who was involved, including coaches, assistants, athletic director, university president — the drama will continue indefinitely, punishing people, including fans and the program, who had nothing to do with anything. No real purpose.

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