Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy called the NCAA "one of the worst organizations" in sports and criticized the NBA's one-and-done rule, calling the backlash against high school players wanting to bypass college "racist."
Van Gundy made his comments Sunday in the wake of the FBI investigation into college basketball that has identified more than 20 Division I men's basketball programs as possibly breaking NCAA rules, according to Yahoo! Sports.
The Pistons coach, who spoke before his team played the Charlotte Hornets, said it's unfair that the blame seems to be falling on the coaches because the real problem starts at the top.
"The NCAA is one of the worst organizations -- maybe the worst organization -- in sports," Van Gundy told reporters. "They certainly don't care about the athlete. They're going to act like they're appalled by all these things going on in college basketball. Please -- it's ridiculous, and it's all coming down on the coaches."
Van Gundy, who coached on the collegiate level for one season at Wisconsin in 1994-95, spoke out Sunday about the people who were against players jumping to the NBA straight from high school.
"People that were against [players] coming out [of high school] made a lot of excuses, but I think a lot of it was racist. I've never heard anybody go up in arms about [minor league baseball or hockey]," Van Gundy told reporters. "They are not making big money, and they're white kids primarily and nobody has a problem."
"But all of a sudden you've got a black kid that wants to come out of high school and make millions. That's a bad decision, but bypassing college to go play for $800 a month in minor league baseball? That's a fine decision? What the hell is going on?"
