Report: Corruption Case Threatens 50+ Hoops Programs

[Demon22]

Sean Miller's got some explaining to do...

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... estigation

FBI wiretaps intercepted telephone conversations between Arizona coach Sean Miller and Christian Dawkins, a key figure in the FBI's investigation into college basketball corruption, in which Miller discussed paying $100,000 to ensure star freshman DeAndre Ayton signed with the Wildcats, sources familiar with the government's evidence told ESPN.

[herodotus]

Sean Miller's got some explaining to do...

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... estigation

FBI wiretaps intercepted telephone conversations between Arizona coach Sean Miller and Christian Dawkins, a key figure in the FBI's investigation into college basketball corruption, in which Miller discussed paying $100,000 to ensure star freshman DeAndre Ayton signed with the Wildcats, sources familiar with the government's evidence told ESPN.

I might be a bit nervous if I were an X fan.

[Demon22]

Can barely keep up with all of the leaks today...

https://sports.yahoo.com/black-market-d ... 05930.html

At first glance, article looks bad for Indiana and Michigan State, among others.

[thebigeXpress]

Sean Miller's got some explaining to do...

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... estigation

FBI wiretaps intercepted telephone conversations between Arizona coach Sean Miller and Christian Dawkins, a key figure in the FBI's investigation into college basketball corruption, in which Miller discussed paying $100,000 to ensure star freshman DeAndre Ayton signed with the Wildcats, sources familiar with the government's evidence told ESPN.

I might be a bit nervous if I were an X fan.

I'm hanging on to hope this started after Miller left Xavier along with Richardson 9 years ago.

[Hall2012]

With everything coming to light about college hoops.. I can't even imagine what's going on where the big money is - college football. It's gotta be 100x worse.

[DudeAnon]

DudeAnon you are out in left field on this one.

Let's be honest this is bad for college basketball, the Big East and especially the teams already named. I can't believe this is the only agent to engage in the behavior. Even if no other Big East teams are named, it's still bad for the conference.

I will also say there is a big difference between a player getting cash from an agent to sign with an agent, then hiring hookers, getting shoe companies to bride them to come to a specific school, or any situation where a coach/university employee facilitates some questionable cash transaction. That being said it's still a major violation and schools have to figure away to make sure it doesn't happen. Otherwise it's a lack of institutional control. My problem is what policies / controls can they put in place to stop it? I really don't know? It would be one thing if you had someone getting hundreds of thousands of dollars. Their behavior would change and you should be able to see the change. Does 7k really change anyone's life and behaviors enough that a coach would or should have known?

It would be great if they worked with the NBA to help solve some of these issues. Personally I would like the NBA to do the following:

1) Have each NBA Team own or go into agreement with a D league team. This would create a true minor league like baseball has.
2) Eliminate the One and Done rule altogether. If your good enough to go straight to NBA from high school, then you should be able too. Absence a total reversal of one and done rule. Allow players to play in the D league their first year out of high school.
3) Limit the D league to players 26 and under. With an exception for rehab assignments
4) Make the D league salary minimum fo under 21 equal to the Medium US household income, Under 21 Max income in D league should be NBA Min. all others twice the NBA Min. Max salaries would exclude rehab assignments
5) roster sizes could be increased to 15 which would allow 50+ high schoolers to make the jump to the D league every year
6) NBA to develope an agent cerfication program, only agents that are registered and have annual audits performed on them will be eligible to represent NBA and D league players. Try to make this an international process that will include all major international leagues

In addition the NCAA should make the following changes

1) Minimum Academic standards should be raised
2) Scholarships should be guaranteed for four years. As long as players meet minimum behavior standards (grades, legal/ethical troubles, effort (not performance) in games and practice)
3) increase access to insurance for athletic career ending injuries
4) Scholarship limits based on graduation rates
5) Develope suggestive policies and controls that if membership institutions adopted they would be granted safe harbor from the actions of rouge individuals
6) remove school level sponsorship by athletic companies either do not allow logos on uniforms or have a all ncaa uniform contract.

These changes would dramatically change the compliance environment

I didn't mean to be so acerbic yesterday, was just in a feisty/bad mood. But simply put, I don't see the problem with just letting schools/agents/boosters/whoever pay the players whatever they want. I am a libertarian, so by default I believe the freer the market the fairer the market.

Keep everything else the same. Academic restrictions etc. just let the players get paid. A few schools may rise and fall based on this but the overall hierarchy will remain the same. If you look at basketball budgets versus success it almost maps 1:1 currently, would be no different in the future. Again, its nothing specific about the NCAA, its just my personal belief.

[ChelseaFriar]

So Xavier, Nova, Creighton, Seton Hall named. All to varying degrees, but lets not kid ourselves as this is only the beginning. 40% of the league. Probably the other 60% will be exposed soon anyways..

LOL.....no

If there is one thing that I would bet my retirement on that I have no control of is that Butler will ever be cited for some compliance thing.

They basically have a brand around it. It would be bad for brand equity to even have a vague appearance of something improper. Stevens, in particular, would go to great lengths to comply to things that aren't even rules - uber compliance

It's really nothing to do with Butler. All it takes is for one kid to have a $100 dinner with an agent when he's home for a few weeks in the summer. Or the father of one kid taking a $4,000 loan from an agent, without the kid even knowing, because he wants to lease a new car. Then you are making the news and at risk of forfeiting games.

[Hall2012]

According to Zach Braziller of the NY Post, the NCAA actually investigated Isaiah Whitehead while he was at Seton Hall and found nothing. So that's either a really bad look for the NCAA (we already know they're incompetent) or perhaps a suggestion that the program itself wasn't involved.

[ChelseaFriar]

According to Zach Braziller of the NY Post, the NCAA actually investigated Isaiah Whitehead while he was at Seton Hall and found nothing. So that's either a really bad look for the NCAA (we already know they're incompetent) or perhaps a suggestion that the program itself wasn't involved.

I think the NCAA is a joke, but to be fair they probably don't have the same powers to intercept calls and subpoena documents as the FBI.

I think there is a good chance many of these programs were NOT involved, but unfortunately players can still be declared ineligible. I doubt Willard knew any of this. The Tiny Morton connection could get a little messy since he ended up on the staff.

[BEwannabe]

DudeAnon you are out in left field on this one.

Let's be honest this is bad for college basketball, the Big East and especially the teams already named. I can't believe this is the only agent to engage in the behavior. Even if no other Big East teams are named, it's still bad for the conference.

I will also say there is a big difference between a player getting cash from an agent to sign with an agent, then hiring hookers, getting shoe companies to bride them to come to a specific school, or any situation where a coach/university employee facilitates some questionable cash transaction. That being said it's still a major violation and schools have to figure away to make sure it doesn't happen. Otherwise it's a lack of institutional control. My problem is what policies / controls can they put in place to stop it? I really don't know? It would be one thing if you had someone getting hundreds of thousands of dollars. Their behavior would change and you should be able to see the change. Does 7k really change anyone's life and behaviors enough that a coach would or should have known?

It would be great if they worked with the NBA to help solve some of these issues. Personally I would like the NBA to do the following:

1) Have each NBA Team own or go into agreement with a D league team. This would create a true minor league like baseball has.
2) Eliminate the One and Done rule altogether. If your good enough to go straight to NBA from high school, then you should be able too. Absence a total reversal of one and done rule. Allow players to play in the D league their first year out of high school.
3) Limit the D league to players 26 and under. With an exception for rehab assignments
4) Make the D league salary minimum fo under 21 equal to the Medium US household income, Under 21 Max income in D league should be NBA Min. all others twice the NBA Min. Max salaries would exclude rehab assignments
5) roster sizes could be increased to 15 which would allow 50+ high schoolers to make the jump to the D league every year
6) NBA to develope an agent cerfication program, only agents that are registered and have annual audits performed on them will be eligible to represent NBA and D league players. Try to make this an international process that will include all major international leagues

In addition the NCAA should make the following changes

1) Minimum Academic standards should be raised
2) Scholarships should be guaranteed for four years. As long as players meet minimum behavior standards (grades, legal/ethical troubles, effort (not performance) in games and practice)
3) increase access to insurance for athletic career ending injuries
4) Scholarship limits based on graduation rates
5) Develope suggestive policies and controls that if membership institutions adopted they would be granted safe harbor from the actions of rouge individuals
6) remove school level sponsorship by athletic companies either do not allow logos on uniforms or have a all ncaa uniform contract.

These changes would dramatically change the compliance environment

A few schools may rise and fall based on this but the overall hierarchy will remain the same. If you look at basketball budgets versus success it almost maps 1:1 currently, would be no different in the future. Again, its nothing specific about the NCAA, its just my personal belief.

You can't be serious! Do you think X attracts the same caliber of student as Georgetown or the same caliber of professors as the top schools in the country. The answer is you're not even close and it's financial, 90 % of the BIg East would be at an extreme disadvantage to Georgetown if a no limits game opens up and a coach/booster could pay as much as they want for their roster. Per my previous post it would be the same as comparing the Yankees to the Reds or Brewers. If the overall hierarchy was working so well then why did Sean Miller need to offer a player $100,000? Georgetown's endowment is almost as large as the other 9 teams in Big East...Ohio State's is almost twice the size of the entire Big East, Notre Dame's is 4X as large as the entire Big East and you want to get in a no limits pay game? Good luck with that.