Finally.
The original "Voice of the Cajuns," Ron Gomez has joined former USL coach Beryl Shipley to write the real story about USL basketball back in the 60's and early 70's. The book, SlamDunked, is the biggest seller locally at Barnes and Noble.
Thirty-five years after the Bulldogs/Ragin' Cajuns basketball program was shut down by the NCAA, we know the true story.
And, it's not a pretty one.
Not pretty if you're the Louisiana Sports Commission, whose blatant racism back in the 60's caused the program to be put on probation in the late '60's.
Not pretty if you're the late Stanley Galloway, who ordered USL to hold illegal practices for the sole purpose of eliminating black players from the USL team, and then turned them in to the NCAA for starting practice early after Coach Beryl Shipley refused to cut those players.
Not pretty if you're the NCAA, who was so desperate to punish a school, any school (as long as it wasn't a big school), that they used the above racism as an excuse to punish USL.
Not pretty if you're the USL administration, who allowed the NCAA to run roughshod over the basketball program not once, but twice.
Not pretty if you're the Louisiana Sportswriters Association, who has used the "death penalty" as an excuse to deny a most deserving coach his spot in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
The folklore surrounding Cajuns' basketball in the early 70's has grown through the years. Over a hundred violations.....payment of players......fixing of grades........the dark stories go on and on.
And now we know, most of it was untrue.
The fish stories were started in the fishwraps. Newspaper articles by sportswriters in the state who couldn't stand the fact that USL integrated "before the state was ready." Articles by sportswriters who couldn't stand that USL had passed every other school in Louisiana in their basketball prowess. Articles by sportswriters who thought they knew the allegations, but never did.
It took thirty-three years before Shipley even knew what his program was accused of. The USL administration kept him out of the loop during the investigation and never allowed him to face his accusers.
And now, we know.
There were, in fact, plenty of allegations. And, in their final response to the NCAA, USL, thanks to the tireless work of attorneys who were determined to bring the truth to light, refuted most of them. Those admitted wrongdoings should have earned the school a slap on the wrist, a probationary period and perhaps a loss of a scholarship.
Instead, they were hung out to dry. It's doubtful that the NCAA even read USL's response.
And the biggest shame of all is that, without the blatant racism that resulted in the first probation, there never would have been a "death penalty," even if most of the allegations in the second investigation proved to be true.
Many Cajun fans who have read the book or listened to interviews, want to blame the administration for the shutdown of the program. And even the most jingoistic would have to admit that they played a part by not defending their coach or their program.
But, in my opinion, the biggest crime of all lies with the NCAA itself. There's a old joke around college sports......"the NCAA is so mad at Jerry Tarkanian that they just put Weber State on probation for three years." And, unfortunately, there's way too much truth in that joke.
Walter Byers, former head of the NCAA, wrote a book called Unsportsmanlike Conduct where he chronicled some of the biggest penalties during his tenure. Amazingly, he doesn't even mention USL. Perhaps he was embarassed by what happened. It couldn't be because USL was insignificant. After all, their basketball program was ranked in the top 10 in the nation.
Gomez and Shipley have written a book that should be required reading for Cajun basketball fans, whether they lived through the "glory days" or not. It should also be required reading for sports fans around the nation that have questioned the NCAA's practices.
And, it should be requred reading for those sportswriters who, year after year, continue to blackball Shipley from the Hall of Fame.
Unfortunately, they are the ones least likely to read the book.....at least with an open mind.
(The book is available at Barnes and Noble when they aren't sold out. It's also available at Barnes and Noble online and through Amazon.com)