I agree that the kid is getting screwed in this, but I also think that he, his family and friends used incredibly bad judgement...incredibly bad. His AAU coach gave his mother the money to fly to Connecticut? And he didn't think there would be a problem with that? If you look at that not as a UCONN fan but from a neutral perspective, you have to say huh? would Rose have provided that kind of money to a kid if he didn't play basketball? And you also have to say that it is highly questionable...This is one of those situations in my mind where everyone is basically wrong, though oddly enough neither of the parties who are paying the highest price are really much more than bystanders. The NCAA is wrong for not getting on with it. Rose was wrong for providing money. As an AAU coach he has a responsibility to Know how that stuff will impact the NCAA eligibility of his players. Mom was wrong for accepting the money from a coach. But beyond that, I'm not sure I buy that this is all that was involved. Round trip airfair from Chicago to Hartford is between $300 and $650. If you fly coach. To me this sounds like there were multiple instance of people paying for trips. If UCONN has a fault, it was in not vetting the situation. Boatright's fault seems to be being related to somebody who took advantage of his celebrity. And despite what Nocera would have you believe, it isn't like anybody is saying none of this happened. It did. His argument is that it should be ok. Which I suppose is an argument you could make. And that what happens before somebody comes to an NCAA institution is irrelevent, which is taken to its logical conclusion means would seem to suggest that players can play a couple of years in the NBA-D league, then if they aren't cutting it, decide to go to college and play there.
