:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65363215/187491904.jpg.0.jpg)
The Louisville players suing the NCAA for the restoration of their 2013 national championship records have reached a settlement.
The 2013 national title banner will not be returning to the KFC Yum Center, but the NCAA will be restoring the tournament records of the players involved in the suit — Luke Hancock, Gorgui Dieng, Stephan Van Treese, Tim Henderson and Mike Marra. This means that Henderson officially drained a pair of monster threes against Wichita State in the national semifinals, and Hancock is once again “officially” the Most Outstanding Player of the 2013 Final Four.
“We have certainly been supportive of our student-athletes and their quest to be recognized for all of the work they invested and success they earned at UofL,” Louisville athletic director Vince Tyra said in a statement. “Their accomplishments absolutely deserve to be recognized. While we would prefer to acknowledge our full team accomplishments from the years that were vacated, we’re glad that the individual achievements of all of the eligible student-athletes can be properly recognized. “
I suppose it’s a win whenever you get the NCAA to surrender something, but more than anything else, this seems to shine a brighter light on the absurdity of this entire thing.
In summary, this is the NCAA’s official position on the 2013 national championship game:
1. It definitely did not happen.
2. Except Michigan and all of its players participated in the game and scored a total of 76 points.
3. Four Louisville players played in the game and accumulated statistics, including Luke Hancock, who was officially named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2013 Final Four.
4. Injured Cardinal senior Mike Marra also was definitely there and on the U of L sideline in an official capacity.
5. No one won the game though.
6. Again, the game definitely did not happen.
Once again, vacating records — the Calipari Final Fours, the Fab Five Final Fours, the Reggie Bush Heisman; all of it — is the absolute dumbest punishment in sports. We watched this stuff. It happened.
In time, the NCAA (or whatever governing body replaces it) is going to realize this and all the asterisks that now plague a healthy chunk of major college programs will disappear. Until then, this will remain an annoyance.