DOJ Charges 10 in College Basketball Corruption Scheme
- Thread starter elgatoloco
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I agree, that if Pen. St. didn't get it for allowing Sandusky to bring children onto a campus facility where they were raped, by him, then it won't happen here.
Big difference is, at Louisville the payment came from someone employed by the program, whilst Sandusky was just using their facilities on his own time. I think UoL is toast.
Visited a Louisville board to see what they were saying, and surprisingly, there were some who supported a death penalty.
The FBI has the teeth so long absent from the NCAA investigations or their by-laws. This will only be the beginning, just the tip, if you will, and then the roof will explode from all the other items uncovered, always suspected but never proven. will wait for the high priced coaches who are in charge of the one and done players to see how many were involved (players that is) in this merry go round of payments and 1 year exposure to "college". Doubt that NU will be one of those caught up in the scheme. It should be an interesting time in the world of high priced college basketball.
If Baylor didn't get it for Murder and a boatload of sexual abuse and Ped State didn't for years of child molesting, Louisville is safe. This is just money!
I don't know if Underwood is dirty or not, but this is a bad look. Underwood brought this guy to OSU AFTER coaching along side him at South Carolina and Kansas State. Got to think he had an idea of the man's methods and character when he worked with him side by side.
Then he hires assistant coaches for CU well known in the Chicagoland AAU circuit. Seem like recruiting hires versus coaching hires. Guess who is in good position for 3 CPS seniors right now. Coincidence? Maybe.
Really doubt Underwood had any hand in this. Would be incredibly stupid on his part to become directly involved. Agree that it's a bad look. However, if I were an Illini fan or someone interested in unfounded speculation, I'd be worried about Orlando Antigua, their "recruiting ace." He was embroiled in an academic fraud investigation while serving as the head coach at USF and comes from the Coach Calipari coaching tree, so he's got the pedigree and personal history...
This all being said, we should avoid casting too many stones. The report that surfaced this morning states that Louisville may have sent as much as $100k to a recruit's family because two other sports apparel companies were bidding for his commitment. That could mean Nike and UA are involved, which could mean any team and staff, including our own, could be involved. This investigation will be YUGE.
I'm sure Rick "Sgt Schultz" Pitino will "know nothing!!!"
Is there a school that has sold it's athletic and academic sole more than U of L?? The two faces of their biggest programs are absolute slime in Petrino and Pitino. Short of rape or murder, I guess their BOT are fine with everything else.
Is there a school that has sold it's athletic and academic sole more than U of L?? The two faces of their biggest programs are absolute slime in Petrino and Pitino. Short of rape or murder, I guess their BOT are fine with everything else.
The only reason the death penalty has ever been given was for "just money" and illegal payments to players (after repeated probation). We'll see!
Add me to the cynical bunch....the reason the kids get paid is that there is big money involved and nobody screws with big money. My little money says that Louisville after some sort of sanctions, like not able to play in the Alaska Shootout or recruit in Maine, no prostitutes for the remainder of the decade and no mint juleps sold at the stadium,,,Louisville will never be out of the top 20. President Trump will change the FBI director and the case will be heard in the Eastern District of Kentucky and the whole university will be given community service. Then Louisville will play UNC at Madison Square Garden in the season opener it will get great ratings and be sponsored by Adidas. Business as usual......
I read that it's a federal crime to bribe any employee of an institution that receives federal funds, which the four assistant coaches are alleged to have done. Hence the feds brought the case.
I also read that they face sentences of up to 80 years... so they'll certainly seek plea deals for as little jail time as possible, and we'll find out for certain if Pitino, Underwood, and other head coaches were involved.
I guess the question is what is different from other similar situations. In the recent past, we have had two basic types of such problems:
1. NCAA infractions where law enforcement was not involved and the issue is direct infractions of NCAA rules
2. Legal issues (Penn State, Baylor) where the issues were horrendous but not direct infractions of NCAA rules with the exception of some very subjective morals clause.
This one is different in that it is both a legal issue involving the Department of Justice and a direct violation of clearly stipulated NCAA rules. As much as I understand your cynicism, this one will be interesting.
I know one of his former players. It was issues with the AD that made him leave. Could this be one of those issues? Maybe. But it was the AD.
On the contrary. Money is what we care about the most. It is also measurable. How were the great gangsters brought down? Tax evasion. The issue will be, does stopping this behavior enhance or diminish the money flow over all. Does it create a more interning sellable product or does it tarnish it beyond market share.
It will also depend on who provided the money. If they are powerful enough some lower level scape goats will be found. This is the new America where real wealth is not about the money but about the power and influence it carries.
This is hilarious, his exact words were that he was "shocked" to hear of the allegations yesterday
They are beyond toast
Not to be too cynical...but when are they going to charge one of these family members or the recruit for income tax evasion? So far we see the institutions getting punished, the coaches get fired, but the recruit is off in the NBA or NFL with no punishment. The NCAA can’t charge for income tax evasion, so the recruit and or family member who took the money is never charged. If the authorities want to address the corruption in college athletics you need to address those taking the money. The racial politics of charging the athletes seems to be one reason that never happens...
The Penn State incident involved a lack of institutional control, which justified NCAA intervention, but nothing about it conferred any competitive advantage to the school. The violation was of a totally different nature than what is being described in this investigation.
Given NU's track record, I'm assuming we won't be involved in this scandal, and it might be to our future recruiting advantage that we're not. One can only hope.
Not sure how it's racial politics. At least two of the assistant coaches that got charged here are black, and presumably so are some of the recruits. The NCAA has no authority over players once they've left, and unless the feds are trying to leverage the player or his family to flip on someone else, any tax evasion would be much too small potatoes for the feds to go after.
Race is very often involved in prosecutorial judgment, but I think you're reaching on this one.
Seriously? PSU can protect a sex offender but you can't give a kid cash to play a game that makes you millions.
The Illini obviously sold its soul, and now it's already paying a price - six month in. They're going to have a HC who at the least won't be totally focused on the program - one eye on the program, one eye on how often his name comes up in the federal investigation.
They better hope Lamont Evans doesn't start talking. Besides being an Underwood assistant last year, Evans spent five years with Underwood on the KSU and USC staffs. These guys didn't just suddenly meet each other at a basketball clinic last year.
As I said from day one, that was a dumb, panicked hire.
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You realize that 3 PSU administrators got sent to prison for protecting the sex offender?
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...d-to-jail-time-for-failure-to-report-sandusky
If paying a kid $100k while already on probation doesn't get you the death penalty then they should get rid of it.
It probably does not make as many headlines but I would be very surprised if the IRS was not going after anyone that publicly gets outed as having received untaxed income. They are not shy and will go after anyone regardless of race, creed, or national origin.
Pitino is done at Louisville. He got fired this morning 9/27/17. Maybe they'll bring in someone like Baylor did to try to revive the program.
Underwood may not be guilty of anything, but he has a knack for surrounding himself with some shady characters. Orlando Antigua tops the list and he is on the staff. He hired Chin Coleman this season due to his CPS connections while running Mac Irwins Fire AAU team. May not be anything wrong with Chin, but he is clearly another recruiting hire more so than an X & O guy. The guy he kept from Groces staff was a St. Louis guy connected closely with Mark Smith who they eventually landed after Underwood arrived. This guy clearly knows recruiting is the name of the game.
It these guys are the "ace" recruiters they probably know exactly what is going on behind the scenes and what they need to do to be that ace recruiter. Why do BBall players often wait to late in the cycle to commit instead of reserving their "spot" like you often hear in Fball? Aren't there a lot less "spots" in fball? We have a full class of 4 this year already committed. Underwood has no commits, but is in on some exceptional talent. Bet his class outranks CCC's when it is all said and done this year.
Yes, I admit to being cynical and biased in some respects, but if I were The University of Rantoul I wouldn't worried that this is getting a little too close for comfort.
I can assure you the IRS may look into it if payments to families have been made.. The IRS employs tactics that are ruthless, intimidating and designed to increase your costs to defend yourself beyond your ability to pay for them
There's nothing wrong with hiring assistant coaches purely for his recruiting connections, unless you are hinting that every great recruiter is doing something illegal.
Nope not talking about every great recruiter. Just indicating that Underwood has hired a couple guys who are known to be good recruiters and have run afoul with the NCAA or the Feds. That's fact. Of course, Head B Ball coach at a powerful D1 school is one of the best jobs on the planet. Whenever the $@it hits the fan, you never know about it. Just isolate yourself from the dark underbelly. Don't want to know how you are doing it just keep doing it.
The first Div. I HC that takes responsibility for causing a scandal will be anointed Sainthood.
All you can do is wait and see what plays out. I will say that if Illinois has been paying out for any of their recent recruiting classes they're probably owed a refund of their money.
Not familiar at all with law, but can someone explain why the things they did was illegal?
Why can't I provide a kick-back to a family in exchange for a commitment? What's the actual legal crime (irrespective of ethical/moral/NCAA bylaw element)?
Why can't a shoe company give an assistant coach money for them to steer them to sign with that shoe company? The player isn't getting any money.
Also, why didn't the FBI get involved with Reggie Bush, Chris Webber, etc.?
Thanks!
Clueless Cat
Why can't I provide a kick-back to a family in exchange for a commitment? What's the actual legal crime (irrespective of ethical/moral/NCAA bylaw element)?
Why can't a shoe company give an assistant coach money for them to steer them to sign with that shoe company? The player isn't getting any money.
Also, why didn't the FBI get involved with Reggie Bush, Chris Webber, etc.?
Thanks!
Clueless Cat
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I asked the same question. The charge appears to be fraud. So, I am guessing that a system that presents a player as meeting a contractually defined status of "amateur" but deliberately uses methodology that does not meet that definition to recruit him is committing fraud. Cross state lines in the process and you have the FBI involvement.
I am sure this is either oversimplified or just wrong but it is how I am explaining it to myself.
Well I read the SI article which kind of explains it in better detail for the non-legal mind.
https://www.si.com/college-basketba...ion-college-basketball-fraud-louisville-bribe
In short, if the parties involved had notified their employers (i.e. university and federal government by proxy of funding), they might not have committed a federal crime BUT would have violated NCAA bylaws leading to sanctions but not jail time.
Pretty ironic if you ask me.
So, the primary issue is that the coaches were technically government employees? That clarifies things somewhat but brings to question why these things have not been prosecuted in the past.
So private schools are exempt? cool!
We should be champions sooner than I thought, in all sports.
