Well, they did clean house within the last year, albeit belatedly, up to and including the university president. As far is we know, there are no culpable parties still connected to the university, certainly not anyone with the current football team. Paterno is deceased, Sandusky in jail for life.
Penn State will not go unscathed with or without the NCAA sticking its nose into this. There is a major cloud hanging over the university and especially the football program, and justly so. They are likely to suffer more than the usual attrition of football players, and their recruiting in all sports, even their recruiting of non-athlete students, will be impaired until the cloud dissipates. It may take quite some time.
So the NCAA involvement at this late juncture is superfluous, and their sanctions might be considered to be unfair to the (presumably) innocent people who are there now.
I think you’re right that Penn State is going to suffer regardless of any NCAA sanctions. But if I’m the NCAA, I don’t want to let it slide, because every membership organization is ultimately judged for the actions of its membership. The NCAA bylaws are explicit in their requirement of highly ethical, lawful, and civil conduct on behalf of member institutions’ athletic officials, even when the conduct is not directly related to on the field activities.
Sandusky could have raped and murdered a nun on the fifty yard line and PSU would have skated if someone reported it to the police at the time. The underlying crime is horrific, but the problem the NCAA should have is that the highest officials of the member institution covered it up to save the football program.
Wrong on recruiting..they are having one of their better recruiting years they have had in a while.