Last month, SI.com reported that former St. Joe’s basketball player, Todd O’Brien had missed the first half of his final season of eligibility because his former coach, Phil Martelli and the administration at St. Joseph refused to grant the senior center a release, once he transferred to UAB this past summer.

Of course, the adminstration of St. Joe’s and Coach Martelli have hidden behind the scenes throughout the breaking of this story, declining to comment to any media outlets as to why they see it necessary to prevent O’Brien from finishing his college career.

O’Brien tried to utilize the same NCAA rule that allowed former NC State quarterback Russell Wilson to transfer from NC State to Wisconsin.  Without getting into too much legal jargon, it states that an athlete who has already graduated will not have to give up a year of eligibility if he/she goes to a different institution, provided that a masters program or course of study is offered at the new institution and is not offered at the original school.

That is…assuming that athlete can get a release.  When it became obvious that Martelli was not willing to allow O’Brien to play for UAB, the senior center made an appeal to the NCAA in the fall.

In typical fashion, the NCAA denied the request, citing St. Joe’s stance on the issue.  O’Brien made an appeal, citing his grades, course of study and his internship that he completed, proving to the NCAA that he is, indeed, studying an area not offered at St. Joseph’s.  That appeal was promtly denied.

The NCAA boasts that it is the governing body that is in place to protect the integrity of college student athletes.  Guess what, NCAA…you failed.  Again.

How is it right that a kid, who averaged a meager 1.0 point per game last year at St. Joe’s, can’t play out his college eligibility because of a hard-headed, vindictive former coach?  The NCAA had a perfect opportunity to protect a student athlete.  But instead, they turned their back on him.

Unfortunately, O’Brien’s case is just the latest in a trend that the NCAA has set.  Take a look at some other ridiculous decisions, in which the NCAA dropped the ball (no pun intended) and failed the student athlete.

2011:  Terrelle Pryor, Devier Posey, Dan Herron and others/Ohio State: The and selling of equipment by Ohio State football players to the owner of a tattoo parlor is well-documented and ultimately cost Jim Tressel his job.  Much criticism was given to Tressel and his players, most notably, star quarterback Pryor for the scandal.

The NCAA did their investigation and announced suspensions of four different players, including Pryor, but despite announcing the suspensions before last year’s Sugar Bowl, the NCAA determined that those suspensions would not begin until the following season.

It should be noted that the NCAA collects the majority of their revenue from college football.  The BCS bowls earn a significant chunk of that revenue.  And a Sugar Bowl without Pryor, Posey and star running back, Herron would mean a sharp decline in ratings and advertising dollars.  The NCAA rules with an iron fist….unless it could hurt their revenue.

2010:  AJ Green, WR/Georgia: The NCAA suspended Green four games after he admitted to selling a bowl jersey to a former North Carolina defensive back for $1000.  In the meantime, the NCAA raked in the money generated from the EA Sports NCAA Football game which featured Green’s digital character, wearing that same #8.

2009:  Dez Bryant, WR/Oklahoma State: After failing to fully disclose that he had a meal with former NFL defensive back Deion Sanders, the NCAA suspended the star wideout for the remainder of the season on October 7, 2009.  Bryant had been a Heisman front-runner and later told media outlets that he was scared when the NCAA questioned him about the interaction with Sanders, and out of fear of loss of eligibility, he did, in fact, mislead them.  Critics, however, question a suspension that cost the phenom his entire junior season.

2004:  Mike Williams/WR, USC: After a federal judge ruled in favor of former Ohio State running back, Maurice Clarrett that the NFL could not bar a player from entering the NFL Draft, instead of requiring that an athlete is at least three years removed from high school, Williams(then a sophomore) declared for the draft and hired an agent.

The Court of Appeals overturned that ruling, prompting Williams to seek reinstatement, so he didn’t have to sit out the entire 2004 season.  Williams applied for reinstatement with the NCAA, caught up on his classes to get in good academic standing and followed the plan laid out for him by the USC coaching staff and administration.  –photo courtesy of cbssports.com

Not only did the NCAA deny Williams his eligibility, but they waited to give the news of the rejection until USC was preparing for their flight out to their first game of the 2004 season.

College Football has a major problem–check that.  The NCAA has a major problem.  In the wake of several big investigations, including Oregon, North Carolina, Auburn, Ohio State and USC, Yahoo! Sports’ release of their story of the Miami Hurricanes and the cash, jewelry and other debauchery funded by convicted Ponzi Scheme artist Nevin Shapiro is the most recent problem the NCAA will have to review, and ultimately, impose sanctions.

Unfortunately, it is the college programs facing the heat, when the NCAA continues to make extremely questionable decisions.  Case in point, the NCAA’s handling of Auburn and Ohio State’s programs last season, and their ultimate decision to let Heisman quarterback Cam Newton play in the final games of the 2010 season, which included the lucrative BCS title game against Oregon.

What was even more disturbing was their decision to not impose the five-game suspensions on Ohio State’s athletes until this fall, allowing the suspended OSU players to play in last year’s Sugar Bowl.  A Sugar Bowl without Ohio State stars Terrelle Pryor, Dan Herron and DeVier Posey, among others would have resulted in a minimally hyped bowl game with less cash to collect.  The NCAA wanted to make sure that they and the game’s sponsors got to cash their checks before they hammered OSU and their program.

Make no mistake about it.  It all has to do with money, and the NCAA hauls in more than its share–they reported budgeted revenues of $757,000,000 in 2010, the majority of that revenue coming from college football.  The BCS games and fees the NCAA collects for using their logos on many items and games, including the ever-popular NCAA Football games produced by EA Sports have generated the machine that operates the NCAA.

The NCAA allows EA Sports to use their logo and players who have the same size, skill sets and jersey numbers as the actual football players from each school that is represented in the game.

Essentially, the NCAA’s message is loud and clear:  It is against the rules and there will stiff consequences for exploiting college athletes….unless the we ( the NCAA)are the ones making the money off playing the role of pimp for the student-athletes.

The real question we should be asking is where are the checks and balances here?  Who does the NCAA have to answer to?  If it is okay for the NCAA to push nearly $1 billion for exploiting these kids, then how are they any different from the boosters, agents and runners that have created so much damage to schools like USC?

College Football is in a different place, economically and culturally, than it was when many of the NCAA rules were written and instituted, and until there is a committee or governing body reviewing what the NCAA is doing, the playing field will not be balanced, and they will continue to be judge and jury.  If the NCAA is going to deposit the checks from the juggernaut that is college football, then they should have to answer some of the questions and more importantly, they should have to recognize that they must adapt with the changes and nuances that come with a billion-dollar-plus machine.

And if the last 18 months have shown anything, it is that the current system is not working.  Unless something changes, 18-22 year old athletes will continue to drive millions and millions of dollars to their respected schools and the NCAA, but the kids will be punished for reaping a fraction of the monetary benefits they generate.