EAST LANSING - Six years ago, the NCAA undertook an unprecedented and controversial enforcement case.
Multiple children had been sexually assaulted on Penn State's campus by former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. The crimes had continued for years, despite reports of the abuse reaching coaches and school administrators, before an arrest was finally made.
The governing body for collegiate sports had never prosecuted a case of that nature before. Its investigative arm typically looks into recruiting violations and impermissible benefits for athletes.
But in Penn State and the Jerry Sandusky scandal, the NCAA and its director Mark Emmert levied harsh sanctions on the football program based on sexual assault committed by a former assistant coach and the inadequate response from coaches and school administrators.