This review is transcluded from Talk:University of Southwestern Louisiana basketball scandal/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: JJonahJackalope (talk · contribs) 16:09, 31 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Reviewer: It is a wonderful world (talk · contribs) 14:10, 11 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @JJonahJackalope, I'll review this. I'm going to start with the scope section, as I want to make sure this subject fully qualifies for its own article before completing the rest of the review. IAWW (talk) 14:10, 11 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@JJonahJackalope the completed review is below. I thought your prose was good so there is few nitpicks. Mostly there are relatively minor comments about scope and source-text integrity. IAWW (talk) 18:03, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Consider completing some reviews in return for the ones you receive. Especially considering the GA backlog is absolutely massive right now and is only growing. IAWW (talk) 18:09, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

As a result, the NCAA applied the "death penalty" to the program: I think you should make it clear here and in the body that the term "death penalty" wasn't invented until later on. Maybe "what is now referred to as the "death penalty"" would be better phrasing.

Changed the phrasing per your suggestion here. -JJonahJackalope (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

eventually retired from basketball coaching: Out of scope (further comment in the scope section) IAWW (talk) 18:01, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Removed this section per your suggestion here. -JJonahJackalope (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The punishments have consistently been considered the most severe in the NCAA's history: I think cut "consistently" here, as there isn't the sourcing to support that there isn't for example another scandal which has just as many or more sources calling it the same thing. IAWW (talk) 18:01, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Removed the word "consistently". -JJonahJackalope (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

as of the 2010s: I don't see why this should be more vague than the body, which says 2011 specifically. IAWW (talk) 18:01, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Changed the phrasing per your suggestion. -JJonahJackalope (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Looks good :)

Looks good :)

The NCAA career scoring leader from 1967–70, Pete Maravich, played for the LSU Tigers of Louisiana State University, which had only integrated their athletics programs that year, five years after Southwestern Louisiana: I think this is out of scope for this article unfortunately IAWW (talk) 18:01, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Removed this sentence, per your suggestion. -JJonahJackalope (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Looks good :)

While the NCAA often only published the violations: "often"? Did they publish the names or not in this case? IAWW (talk) 18:01, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately, the source is unclear as to whether or not the names were directly published by the NCAA. Per the source (Denlinger & Shapiro 1975, p. 204):

"Normally, the NCAA's official public statement after a school has been punished lists violations only. No Names. During the course of court proceedings, however, the charges were made public and printed in full by the Lake Charles (Louisiana) American Press."

I have rephrased this sentence accordingly to reflect that it was the common practice of the NCAA to not publish the students' names. Feel free to offer suggestions for better phrasing based on the source material. -JJonahJackalope (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Can you link "ACT"? IAWW (talk) 18:01, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Done! Honestly surprised I missed that when writing the article, but good catch. -JJonahJackalope (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Looks good :)

Looks good :)

Looks good :)

Very well presented. Metadata is all there and thanks for archiving everything!

The Sports Illustrated article is from 2011, which is before the publication became less reliable in 2019.

Bleacher Report is the only questionable source, but it is mostly used in conjunction with other sources and I can't find any evidence of them flat out fabricating information.

The rest of the sources are either very reliable or are news publications from around the time of the event which have no clear reliability issues.

[1e]: Y, including the contrasting "but"

[1n]: I think "Due in part to Shipley's recruiting of black athletes, which included standouts such as Ivory and Winkler, Southwestern Louisiana became a nationally successful program and the most successful program in the state" is mostly WP:SYNTH and should be cut unless a source can be found (correct me if I'm missing something). The following two sentences which cover the team's achievements I think are great, and the reader can decide how successful the program was from them. IAWW (talk) 18:01, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Removed this sentence per your suggestion. -JJonahJackalope (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

[7a]: Y

[13]: Y

[7b]: Y

[1aa]: Y

Earwig finds nothing but direct quotations. I also found no issues on the spot check.

Could you provide me with Case 12 from "Corruption and Scandal in American Sports: Causes and Consequences"? I want to check this subject has WP:PERSISTENCE and currently the only contemporary source I have access to is the NYT opinion piece. IAWW (talk) 14:10, 11 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, I just checked and the case can be accessed via Google Books, here. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that this book is available for free through other sources, such as the Internet Archive. -JJonahJackalope (talk) 23:16, 13 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Oh perfect! I should have checked Google Books. I think the NYT article and this 4-page section in a book by an academic means the subject meets the persistence guideline. IAWW (talk) 15:14, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The first sub-section and a half of the Background section contains no references to sources specifically about the subject title. Normally this is an indication the article is serving as a WP:COATRACK, but in this case I think all that information is necessary to understand the actual scandal so warrants inclusion.

Shipley later served as the head coach for the San Diego Conquistadors of the American Basketball Association before retiring from the sport.[1] Shipley largely maintained that he was innocent of the charges leveled against him by the NCAA.[1] Shortly before his death of cancer in April 2011, he participated in an interview with Sports Illustrated where he discussed his legacy, with particular emphasis on his time at Southwestern Louisiana.: Unfortunately I think this is out of scope. It is not supported by any sources which are about the article subject, and it is not needed information for understanding the subject. It would be relevant to the Beryl Shipley article though. IAWW (talk) 18:01, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Removed this section per your suggestion. -JJonahJackalope (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

All seem to be correctly tagged

No issues

You can use Template:As of for "as of" statements, so these potentially dated statements can be kept track of in a category. IAWW (talk) 18:01, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@It is a wonderful world:, just wanted to reach out to let you know that I have made some edits to the article to address the points you raised in your review! Thank you for reviewing this GA submission, and please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions, comments, or concerns. Regards, -JJonahJackalope (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks @JJonahJackalope, I am happy with all your changes so am passing this. Nice work! IAWW (talk) 18:32, 17 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]