Memphis up to no good . . . | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Memphis up to no good . . .

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UofMemphis said:
^ can't we just "hang on" to one your trophies for a while till we get one of our own? I promise we'll give it back...[/
This ain't the Stanley Cup. Seriously, it sounds like the father is fully qualified here, and it sounds like you hit a vein of gold. If we had a family like this Imwould have no problem with it, KO I'm not so sure.
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tcf15 said:
Not at all, just never seen a father openly lobbying for a job using his kids (this could have happened before, but this is my first time seeing this). Pretty much was just saying, hey, if another school hires me, my son will decommit from Memphis and my other sons will follow me too. No problem with kids wanting to play for their dad, though.
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Same thing happened many years ago at Tennessee when Allan Houston played there. His dad was given the head coaching position, I believe. I think his name was Wade Houston.

It's definitely unethical if you apply the NCAA's usual holier-than-thou rulebook, but as usual, they selectively decide what rules to make and which situations to wink at and look the other way. Hiring a coach is one thing. Coach K hires entire families of his recruits. One of them (can't remember his name) had both his parents working as professors while he balled for Coach K. Chris Duhon's mother moved from Slidell, LA to Durham and they found her some kind of job and a nice apartment while Chris was playing. Gee, I wonder who paid the rent for her place?

The bottom line is if it helps the school make even more money off whatever program it is, who cares if they give special perks to the parents of recruits? As long as they're technically making them 'work' for the money, that is. :rolleyes:
 
So Keelon Lawson gets hired and now Dedric Lawson (his 2016 kid) is set to "announce" on Sunday. The move is paying dividends already.
 
Sorry guys, couldn't help myself. Memphis is one of those programs I've been laughing at almost my whole life. The fan base coupled with a great history of underachieving makes it too easy.

UConnNick said:
Same thing happened many years ago at Tennessee when Allan Houston played there. His dad was given the head coaching position, I believe. I think his name was Wade Houston.
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Correct. Houston was set to go to Louisville but then his father was hired to be the head coach at Tennessee. Funny enough, Wade coached for Houston's 4 years and then had a really bad season the next year (like 5-20 or something) and was fired. That entire state is shady with their hirings, I guess...
 
UofMemphis said:
Honestly...I hope Keelon pushes Josh...Josh hires former Arizona "yes men" like Jack Murphy, Jason Gardner, and even Luke Walton so they don't "rock the boat"
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I don't have a problem with the hire whatsoever. You have a finite number on spots on that bench, do what you want with them. I just think it's a bad idea. I don't see "Keelon pushing Josh". I think best case Keelon sits on the bench and keeps his mouth shut. Worst case he has his sons questioning who they are actually answering to.

It's not cheating. This happens all the time. But never before with a head coach as young as Pastner and a new assistant as brash as Lawson.

And those "yes men" are far more qualified than Keelon Lawson.
 
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UCONN-NYC said:
My title to this thread wasnt to say you guys are actually up to no good. Its obviously completely legal. I just don't like the precedent. This isnt when a head coach is already at a school and his son comes to play for him a la Doug McDermott. This just in my mind is against what the NCAA pretends its against
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Precedent? Calipari with Dejuan Wagner, Self with Mario Chalmers, you can go back to Larry Brown at Kansas with Danny Manning. This is far from a precedent.
 
A year ago, I'd call it dirty pool....

But right now, every P5 school is trying to rig the deck against Memphis and the rest of us, so .

If Memphis wants to hire a recruit's dad or mom or grandma or if they want to try to duck*ing create recruits in a test tube, I say have at it.

It's hillbilly autonomy.
 
UofMemphis said:
And for the record...Vandy and Mississippi (both desperate coaches) offered Keelon more money...he wanted to coach his sons at Memphis.
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I promise you he will make as much money somehow………it's legal but it wreaks no matter only because of what dad said!
 
kobe said:
enough, Wade coached for Houston's 4 years and then had a really bad season the next year (like 5-20 or something) and was fired. That entire state is shady with their hirings, I guess...
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Don't talk about Vandy that way
 
mauconnfan said:
I promise you he will make as much money somehow………it's legal but it wreaks no matter only because of what dad said!
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I might be in the minority, but I love what the dad said. Call a spade a spade. Don't tell me you are putting student athletes first...and then create entire fake academic programs behind my back (hi UNC). I like the 'no bullsh!tedness' of the situation.
 
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otp85 said:
And those "yes men" are far more qualified than Keelon Lawson.
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Gotta disagree here...Jack Murphy was a video guy for the Denver Nuggets and Walton was just a player.

Lawson took Hamilton High 39-0 to an undefeated State Title...dude can coach.
 
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Chief00 said:
Quite frankly, I have no problem with this. However, the irony doesn't escape me that this is the coach who did not play or suspended a kid for swearing - but a $100k payoff is ok.
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Very good point...the lack of moral consistency, particularly with the recent history of recruiting a transfer who had IIRC twice been accused of sexual assault then petitioning the NCAA so that he can play right away, does tend to paint Coach Pastner as a bit of a hypocrite.
 
huskyharry said:
Very good point...the lack of moral consistency, particularly with the recent history of recruiting a transfer who had IIRC twice been accused of s e xual assault then petitioning the NCAA so that he can play right away, does tend to paint Coach Pastner as a bit of a hypocrite.
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Not commenting on the se xual assault thing, but this hiring of parent coaches isn't morally wrong. It's within the current rules, so it's perfectly legal. It's not more of a moral transgression than having 5th year grad transfers on your team. If you want to blame somebody, blame the NCAA.
 
I don't mind this one bit. UCONN needs Memphis (and others) to remain competitive for as long as possible. Any positive recruiting news for Memphis/SMU/Cincinnati/Temple, etc only helps UCONN's SOS come Tourney time.
 
huskyharry said:
Very good point...the lack of moral consistency, particularly with the recent history of recruiting a transfer who had IIRC twice been accused of s e xual assault then petitioning the NCAA so that he can play right away, does tend to paint Coach Pastner as a bit of a hypocrite.
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Why wouldn't we? Campus police determined they could not even charge him with a crime because there was no evidence. Last I looked youre innocent until proven guilty...and they couldn't even charge him with a crime.

Geron Johnson and Mike Dixon were supposed to be "trouble" yet both were model citizens at Memphis and GRADUATED with a degree.
 
It just looks bad.
I agree that you could make a case that the Dad deserves the job. That is not the issue. But it is like hiring your wife. It can be totally undeserved or deserved but it looks bad so most places make a rule against it. Even though this may be deserved, it should be a violation. But of course the NCAA doesn't think this issue merits the same attention of a similar parent being given a plane ticket to visit a college with a kid, or a kid getting sneakers in middle school.
I think anyone who has ever had to develop policy could see why this is a problem. But it is the NCAA not Memphis that is neglectful.
Stupid (lack of) policy by the NCAA. Happy for our forum friend Memphis and, yes, they did not break a rule. but it stinks.
BTW, the other reason why most companies don't allow nepotism is that it could really turn into a mess. It will be hard to supervise the dad of a star player(s). If he is out of control, can they just fire him? Plus families could get into nasty fights. Be careful what you hope for.
 
David 76 said:
It just looks bad.
I agree that you could make a case that the Dad deserves the job. That is not the issue. But it is like hiring your wife. It can be totally undeserved or deserved but it looks bad so most places make a rule against it. Even though this may be deserved, it should be a violation. But of course the NCAA doesn't think this issue merits the same attention of a similar parent being given a plane ticket to visit a college with a kid, or a kid getting sneakers in middle school.
I think anyone who has ever had to develop policy could see why this is a problem. But it is the NCAA not Memphis that is neglectful.
Stupid (lack of) policy by the NCAA. Happy for our forum friend Memphis and, yes, they did not break a rule. but it stinks.
BTW, the other reason why most companies don't allow nepotism is that it could really turn into a mess. It will be hard to supervise the dad of a star player(s). If he is out of control, can they just fire him? Plus families could get into nasty fights. Be careful what you hope for.
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I'm not buying your nepotism argument. How is hiring a Dad as an assistant coach with no previous ties to the University of Memphis comparable to a husband hiring his wife? It really isn't. I could be wrong, but I don't recall there being a publicized major issue between a family member on the coaching staff and a recruit. Assuming the Dad would be out of control isn't fair to him since he doesn't have a record of that behavior. He just wants to move up in the coaching ranks. Just because he has sons that could get basketball scholarships to major universities doesn't mean that he doesn't have the credentials to be an assistant coach. Keelon Lawson had Vanderbilt and Tennessee coming after him. Would you have a problem if he was hired by either of those two? Now, I don't like that Keelon Lawson was parading around about how he and his sons would be a package deal but he has the credentials for the job. Nepotism has nothing to do with it.
 
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I think it's a bit "un-savory" even though it's within the rules, and I don't like seeing it happen. I'm also not sure how you are supposed to prevent it. I'm also not sure its a great idea. What if son isn't playing enough for dad's liking? What if other players feel the Lawson trio get special treatment?
 
UofMemphis said:
Why wouldn't we? Campus police determined they could not even charge him with a crime because there was no evidence. Last I looked youre innocent until proven guilty...and they couldn't even charge him with a crime.

Geron Johnson and Mike Dixon were supposed to be "trouble" yet both were model citizens at Memphis and GRADUATED with a degree.
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Not sure what that degree from Memphis is even worth...As for on the court, both were quite detrimental to your team. Dixon pouted and whined after every non-call and was really selfish on the offensive end in key moments. Johnson was a punk on the court and couldn't shoot from the perimeter. Even Josh "wonder boy" Pastner noted that Cincinnati coaches were audibly heard saying "LET HIM SHOOT" the whole game at your place (a serious UC beatdown of Memphis).
 
Yet Memphis advanced in the NCAA tourney and Cincy did not...
 
My point is the NCAA focuses on minutia while letting areas more important go unnoticed. If you can't see how this could be abused, I don't know what to say.
Never said the father was going to be a problem either.
 
Go Cinci, go Memphis, getting a kick out of them coming over here and fighting it out. Good entertainment and I want more , come on guys keep it going. We need something for the summer.
 
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Hey, at least this kid’s dad is going to work for his money, unlike Cam Newton’s Dad, who was basically pimping his son.
 
Scot-e said:
It would be nice to get pissed at someone new for a change.
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I hope we are not there long enough for that to happen. I'll stick to my old hates, thank you very much. Until we find a better home.
 
Don't let them go- they are special and deserve a place close to your heart.
It just would be nice to feel any emotion whatsoever about our doody of a conference besides shame- anger toward other teams fans would even be better.
 
intlzncster said:
I hope we are not there long enough for that to happen. I'll stick to my old hates, thank you very much. Until we find a better home.
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Unbfortunately, we might be stuck in this new conference of ours for quite some time. As a result, we have to hope that Memphis, Cincy, Temple etc can do well enought to help ourt SOS and make for interesting / fun games.
 
Dynasty said:
I'm not buying your nepotism argument. How is hiring a Dad as an assistant coach with no previous ties to the University of Memphis comparable to a husband hiring his wife? It really isn't.
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I think the analogy would be more appropriate if it went like, this is like hiring a guy just because he has a hot wife/fiance and you want a shot at her.

But either way that's still completely overlooking the fact that dude's dad is actually a good coach so the hire makes intuitive sense even without the recruit in the equation.
 
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