OT: FBI has reportedly arrested several NCAA basketball assistant coaches.

[HooperScooper]

I don't think any of this is a surprise to NCAA D1 coaches. I used to go to high level AAU tournaments in the early part of last decade and there was talk of recruits getting paid at that time. I don't think any coaches wanted to be snitches so they just dealt with it. Not everyone was doing it. After this news I bet if you asked coaches tomorrow about this they would say they're not surprised.

Mark Fox of Georgia says he's not surprised.

"I'm not surprised," Fox told reporters on Tuesday. "It confirms what we probably already felt like was happening in our game."

Fox 'not surprised' with corruption scandal in college hoops

 

[Paesano]

Look at this BS:

Yeah Senator, the Corleone family has a lot of buffers....

 

[StoweD210]

Yep, then 2 years on ESPN and back in the NCAA as Auburn's head coach in 2021.

This is probably what will happen, but, in a pollyanna world, this should be the end of Pitino as a public figure. No TV gig, no D1 P5 coaching jobs, just retire and step out of the public eye. He's too toxic to put out there as an "expert analyst" or to trust that he'll follow the rules with another basketball program.

 

[Paesano]

I recall a huge uproar for calling Heron a bum in his thread because his behavior was so transparent. As usual the BY high horses couldn't believe what was being said.

I hope this puts the "shoe companies and AAU don't matter" senior citizens to rest.

Wasn't just you. Look, people like to believe the world is unicorns and rainbows. Most people prefer to live in ignorance as ignorance is bliss. And there is a lot of truth in that last part. Reality is damned depressing. Happy people either refuse to believe in the negatives or they accept them and quickly move their attention to something positive. The latter is very difficult to do on a consistent basis so into the sand their head goes. But at least they stay happy...kinda.

 

[djct1999]

I don't think any of this is a surprise to NCAA D1 coaches. I used to go to high level AAU tournaments in the early part of last decade and there was talk of recruits getting paid at that time. I don't think any coaches wanted to be snitches so they just dealt with it. Not everyone was doing it. After this news I bet if you asked coaches tomorrow about this they would say they're not surprised.

Mark Fox of Georgia says he's not surprised.

"I'm not surprised," Fox told reporters on Tuesday. "It confirms what we probably already felt like was happening in our game."

Fox 'not surprised' with corruption scandal in college hoops

I can take it one step further. A close friend of mine has a son in 8th grade who plays for a highly regarded AAU program out of Oakland CA. He says that kids in that program openly discuss the "going rates" for a priority recruit at high profile, PAC 12 schools. He listed multiple schools, all highly touted, and 150k.

 

[upstater]

VJ King--bad choice

 

[djct1999]

VJ King--bad choice

Depends if the money cleared.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Fraud is a precedent charge for RICO. If Emmert knew this was going on, he has a really big problem.

 

[auror]

Depends if the money cleared.

And if it is untraceable.

 

[HooperScooper]

What would happen if the FBI starting looking into college football recruiting? Holy hell that would be a lot worse!

 

[HuskyHawk]

Best lunch ever. And that includes well done nooners.

Catching up.

1. Of course the FBI kept this from the NCAA. The NCAA would have messed up the whole investigation.
2. I'd wager a decent sum that the FBI had agents undercover. No way was this all external electronic comms being tapped.
3. This a classic nerds vs. geeks. I'd bet a decent portion of the FBI team couldn't name the coaches of any of these schools.
4. More rats than an abandoned farm will be coming out.
5. This will be a great movie.
6. It's got to involve all the shoe companies and you'd have to think this bleeds over in to football. Altough truth be told, there isn't much money made from shoe endorsement in the NFL. Probably less than 5 players can actually push merchandise. It's all about the logo. No need to invest young when the big pro pay day isn't coming.
7. NCAA is dying for an everybody did it so they don't have to do their job as hatchet men on the dirty programs.

They definitely had people undercover. It's been reported. This was a three year sting.

 

[Chuck]

I can take it one step further. A close friend of mine has a son in 8th grade who plays for a highly regarded AAU program out of Oakland CA. He says that kids in that program openly discuss the "going rates" for a priority recruit at high profile, PAC 12 schools. He listed multiple schools, all highly touted, and 150k.

That's my fear with all of this. This practice has been talked about for years, and many have reliable (if only second or third hand) stories to share. If this is a "baseball steroids" situation and nothing really happens, it just becomes a "no more payments anymore" situation. As bad, or worse, would be if peeled layers of the onion start exposing things we don't find as satisfying.

 

[TopDogs]

 

[Paesano]

Yep. Not weeks. Not days. Hours.

 

[superjohn]

What would happen if the FBI starting looking into college football recruiting? Holy hell that would be a lot worse!

My friend's dad has a job at Georgia football. His job is to pay players to come to Georgia, they don't even hide it.

 

[Husky25]

It's a funny Tweet, but when does Coach Roy get his comeuppance?

 

[mauconnfan]

Seismic:

Caddyshack - Well? We're Waiting

 

[Jerry1714]

Bye Rick. Bye Tom.

 

[mauconnfan]

Bye Rick. Bye Tom.

I mean does Bruce Pearl survive this? He's already been held accountable for barbecues with hot tubs and women, don't they know he just threw Chuck under the bus? Scum pure scum.

 

[UConn990411]

I love seeing Louisville go up in flames.

Yet another pathetic decision by the ACC.

 

[Northbound]

Coaches work for the schools not the shoe companies.

Many work for both - spoken or not.

 

[krinklecut]

When you google Pitino it gives you a key quote:

"Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer."

"$50k no good? How about $100k? Our grants are unlimited!"

 

[2Infinity]

I can take it one step further. A close friend of mine has a son in 8th grade who plays for a highly regarded AAU program out of Oakland CA. He says that kids in that program openly discuss the "going rates" for a priority recruit at high profile, PAC 12 schools. He listed multiple schools, all highly touted, and 150k.

Makes you wonder about the recent emergence of certain programs. Oregon comes to mind as the poster child and especially in their case being the "favored child" of a particular shoe company. Maryland is another with direct ties to another major shoe company, though there's not quite the significant difference in recruiting performance between it's past and present. LSU is a third with their haul of solid recruits earlier this year. Think about the recruit from this area who was reported as saying that a high quality academic institution was a priority to him...hmmm. You might even be able to add Western Kentucky to the discussion when you consider the talent that was considering such a perennial winner. If I was the FBI, I'd be visiting the coffee shops and bars near these schools.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Makes you wonder about the recent emergence of certain programs. Oregon comes to mind as the poster child and especially in their case being the "favored child" of a particular shoe company. Maryland is another with direct ties to another major shoe company, though there's not quite the significant difference in recruiting performance between it's past and present. LSU is a third with their haul of solid recruits earlier this year. Think about the recruit from this area who was reported as saying that a high quality academic institution was a priority to him...hmmm. You might even be able to add Western Kentucky to the discussion when you consider the talent that was considering such a perennial winner. If I was the FBI, I'd be visiting the coffee shops and bars near these schools.

Cam reddish