The federal government has given the NCAA a "nod of approval to begin looking into potential NCAA violations tied to certain schools implicated in the federal basketball investigation," according to sources cited by Forde, Thamel & Wetzel of YAHOO SPORTS. This serves as the "first step of what could be one of the broadest and most important investigations in the history of the NCAA’s enforcement division." Sources said that the NCAA has been in "constant communication with the federal government" since September '17, when FBI agents "arrested 10 men affiliated with the underbelly of basketball." This step marks a "natural progression for the NCAA’s investigative team, which has not wanted to interfere with the federal investigation, to prepare to begin its search for violations of NCAA rules." Sources "did not indicate specific schools that the NCAA has been cleared to look at." Sources on multiple campuses tied to the investigation said that they "haven’t heard anything specific from the NCAA about the start of an investigation." However, the "general expectation on campuses impacted by the federal investigation is that NCAA action will begin soon." Among college athletics leadership, there is a "growing impatience at the NCAA’s lack of action, as the scandal could hover over the sport for additional years as the process plays out" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/6).
