Charles Barkley says it’s time for the NCAA to “get their **** together”

Auburn basketball legend Charles Barkley is not one to keep his opinion to himself on almost any occasion. Anyone who knows about Barkley knows he is a loud and proud Auburn man, and he may have let slip that he is just as frustrated with the NCAA after the season Bruce Pearl and his squad dealt went through.

Despite the fact that Barkley was co-hosting an event run by the NCAA, he did not hesitate to slam the organization on live television during March Madness coverage on Sunday night. Barkley lit up the NCAA, cutting off co-host Kenny Smith who was talking about the differences between the college and NBA rulebooks and using the discrepancies as an excuse for NCAA coaches.

“Please stop,” said Barkley, who went on to refer to the organization as “the Barney Fife of the world” in the clip from the college hoops coverage below:

Though he didn’t mention the LSU Tigers’ head basketball coach by name, Barkley talks about how there are “guys on tape” paying players from three years ago, and yet nothing is said about it.

But over at Auburn, there could have maybe, possibly, been an issue maybe with Sharife Cooper’s eligibility and he was withheld from most of the season.

Sir Charles also called out the NCAA for making empty promises, pointing out their claims that they want to stop cheating and give the womens’ teams equal resources to the mens’ teams. He claimed the NCAA is behind the times and called the differences in the mens’ and womens’ weight rooms during March Madness “a travesty and a disgrace.”

And maybe he’s right. Of course, someone on set brought up the COVID-19 excuse, but did the Coronavirus force the NCAA to give the women an inferior setup than the men? Did the Coronavirus make it so evidence of cheating can be ignored at the NCAA’s discretion?

Charles Barkley used the NCAA’s platform to address the problem–the NCAA itself–and we’re proud of this Auburn man for being unafraid to share the truth.