The Binghamton University men’s basketball team has become a household name — at least in the media world.

It’s not for winning its first America East Conference tournament and it’s not for its first NCAA appearance, but for the recent fiasco in the dismissal of six key players. The resignation of Joel Thirer from his post as athletic director followed shortly.

From ESPN to The Huffington Post, the program has caught the attention of reporters and bloggers alike.

Much like the coverage of the arrest of Malik Alvin last year after he allegedly stole condoms from Wal-Mart, the media has questioned the integrity of the basketball program and how its controversial recruiting practices seemed to come back to bite them after a highly successful 2008-09 season.

New York Times reporter Pete Thamel wrote five articles covering the basketball situation in the span of one week after Tiki Mayben’s arrest, not including his posts on The New York Times blog, “The Quad Blog.”

Thamel wrote an article in February covering the questionable recruiting practices by Binghamton head coach Kevin Broadus. Then, in March Thamel broke the story on Elizabeth Williams and her accusations of “egregious acts of sexual misconduct” by two senior athletic department officials.

Thamel went on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” Wednesday afternoon, along with former University of Vermont men’s basketball head coach Tom Brennan. Both men were highly critical of the athletics program, stating that it had lost sight of the morals and ethics involved with the sports at BU.

Bloggers also took to the computers to deliver their criticism.

”If you can handle the ball and you’ve got some eligibility left, I’d say now’s the perfect time to take that pottery class you’ve always wanted to take at BU,” said Sean Keeley of “Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician,” a blog that covers athletics at Syracuse University.

Former Bearcats basketball player Matt Mullins had nothing but kind words for the team.

“I feel bad for the players that got dismissed,” Mullins said. “From my experience they are all great guys and I feel bad about what happened.”

Mullins, a sophomore, is now enrolled at Broome Community College where he is both finishing his degree and playing basketball. He stated that last year there was no indication that there was anything going wrong during the season. As far as he saw it, there were no problems with his former teammates.

“I didn’t see it coming,” he said. “I was shocked like everyone else. Last year everything went smoothly and we stayed on focus. I talked to my roommates from last year and they are staying positive and are looking forward to the upcoming season.”

ESPN commentator and Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser also weighed in on the situation. In an interview with Thamel, he stated how he is concerned with the situation at Binghamton University, but he is and always will be a Bearcat.

“I know there’s been scrutiny,” he told Thamel. “It’s been a program I defended and liked very much. I know the athletic director and the president. It’s my school. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a tipping point. It’s certainly going to bring more scrutiny. It would have to advance along whatever scrutiny has been there already.”