Washington's admission to recruiting violations Wednesday was the direct result of coaches at rival in-state schools Gonzaga, Washington State and Eastern Washington standing up and alerting the NCAA to possible wrongdoing.

The policing of the sport by fellow coaches, albeit from other schools, is exactly what the NCAA enforcement and basketball certification staff wants and needs to occur for the sport to be healthy. But it doesn't happen often, and sources have told ESPN.com that the Washington case was unique because three other schools were willing to talk openly to the NCAA.

Coaches don't do what they're supposed to and turn other coaches in for violations because they fear they could become the subject of a similar probe. But that doesn't stop coaches from complaining about possible rules violations by competitors.

The most overstated comment from a coach is "that coach got that kid by cheating,'' or "you should hear how often they call him or visit with him or cross the line with an extra contact.'' Yet, when pressed for details, the coaches usually won't expound.

And that's what makes the Washington case so special.

The head coaches at Gonzaga, Eastern Washington and Washington State weren't afraid to put their own reputations on the line. They were determined to get the truth out after double-checking it themselves. This wasn't about paying players, but rather Washington attempting to gain an advantage by contacting juniors when it wasn't allowed, even visiting with at least one of them during a quiet period.

This isn't like the Michigan case, in which a booster paid players hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's not like the Minnesota case of academic fraud. But it could be a watershed case because the whistleblowers were fellow coaches.

The coaches in Washington state would have been livid and regretted speaking if Washington had not taken action by preventing the school from recruiting Clarkston (Wash.) junior Josh Heytfelt, limiting recruitment of Bremerton (Wash.) junior Marvin Williams, suspending assistant coach Cameron Dollar without pay for a month and preventing him from going on the road, and essentially writing up the rest of the staff.

The NCAA can still penalize the Huskies and Lorenzo Romar's staff even more when it discusses the matter in December.

Had none of the self-imposed penalties been implemented by Washington, then the coaches in the Northwest would have lost faith in the NCAA judicial system.

Washington's proactive approach, once the allegations were first reported by ESPN.com and followed up by The Seattle Times, shows that the truth will and can come out if coaches are willing to gamble. They may have hurt relationships, but they've strengthened their character. Certainly, they have to ensure that they don't cross the line and will likely be watched even closer by those they have turned in over the summer.

But this kind of policing has to occur more often in conferences, such as the SEC, that are filled with rumors and innuendo. The NCAA is looking for cooperation on a case involving an SEC school but is struggling to get the same type of support from the other member schools.

The information has to be shared when there is a violation if the coaches want it to be corrected. Coaches around the country should be proud of their brethren in the Northwest -- Gonzaga's Mark Few, Washington State's Paul Graham and Eastern Washington's Ray Giacoletti took a risk by talking to the NCAA and exposing violations committed at Washington. They won't win anymore games because of what they did, but they should win more fans among other coaches in the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

They should be honored by the NABC for standing by the truth. There is no code of silence that coaches are adhering to in this sport.

If there are violations, blatant violations, and they are known by another staff, then that staff needs to report it to the NCAA. If they don't report, then they better not say a word when school 'X' beats them with a player they're convinced was illicitly recruited by the offending school.

Act or don't say a word. Coaches have a choice and the three in the Northwest made the right one.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.