Now that the NCAA has finally come down on NIU for the 2004 incident involving former women’s basketball player Joi Scott, we can start to break down what exactly the probation will mean to the Huskies.

Despite the fact that it was a former NIU athlete and she was a part of the women’s basketball team only, all of NIU athletics will feel the effects of the probation. This shows one of the NCAA’s major flaws in it’s current system when it comes to situations like these.

If anyone in any sport at NIU commits an infraction in the next year, then that could equal seriously bad news for the athletic department. We’re talking the possibility of a loss of scholarships or even the loss of postseason play, which other schools like Michigan and Georgia have experienced in the last few years.

That could mean the NIU football team would possibly lose a bowl game if another infraction is committed all because of an athlete that played at NIU two years ago (and transferred) in a totally different sport and broke the rules. Shouldn’t the punishment follow the rule breaker and not the school?

In any case, NIU fans better hope the athletes can be on their best behavior over the next year, and all of this begs the question: Do the athletes know better?

NIU surely puts its athletes through some sort of ethics training to teach right from wrong, although they probably shouldn’t have to be taught that accepting $2,000 in gifts is wrong.

The NCAA’s reports showed the situation was not inadvertent. This meant Scott knew she was breaking the rules.

If my assumption that the athletes are given lessons on ethics is correct and athletes still break rules, then what further steps can be taken? More training? Finding more ways to help athletes financially?

That is a question NIU is going to have to deal with in the future.

And while on the surface this punishment may appear to be nothing but a slap on the wrist, it is anything but. This is something to be taken seriously and should really keep the athletic department on its toes, not just for the next year but for years to come.