FBI arrests Assistant Basketball Coaches in Corruption Scheme

[Alsacs]

Vince McMahon to Rick Pitino.

 

[cuseguy]

None of this is the least bit surprising. The only surprise is that there’s not more schools and Kentucky isn’t one of them.

 

[Deano]

Okay, we are not involved in this. You can take that to the bank. A possible 8th school...Kansas.

No way, not Kansas.

 

[RF2044]

Some quick reactions:

1) Pretty sad that the FBI is the one breaking this open and not the NCAA. Today's events shine a gigantic spotlight on that organization's totally farcical/ineffectual/hypocritical nature.

2) I have mentioned many times on this board that Pitino must be a huge fan of Calipari, because once Calipari became the official 'recruiting boogeyman', fans forgot about how much of a slimball dirtbag cheater Pitino is/was. Pitino was the original Calipari. The fact they would buy a player WHILE THEY WERE ON FREAKING PROBATION tells you everything you need to know. He's as bad as Calipari.

3) I am 0% surprised that Laranaga/Miami are involved. This is another guy whose public reputation is somehow much different than his actual nature. One of my friends knows a guy who used to be an assistant for Laranaga and he said he's a dirty recruiter, as well as a giant in general.

4) See #1 above.

Terrific post. #1 and #2 above are completely spot-on.

The NCAA is a joke. "Wheelhouse."

 

[doc05]

FAU & FIU are Adidas, if folks are looking for other Fla schools besides The U.

Both public schools (Lgo FAU Owls!).

 

[PhatOrange]

I mean that's why SMU football got the death penalty right?

The indictments indicate that the FBI video-recorded a July 27 meeting in Las Vegas involving a coach from the school that appears to be U of L and the recruitment of another high school player who is expected to graduate in 2019.

During that meeting, records show, one of the defendants noted that the university was already on NCAA probation and would have to be “particularly careful” about how the money was passed to the high school player and his family. The coach agreed, saying, “we gotta be very low key,” according to the indictments.

 

[Fly Rodder]

I wouldn't be surprised. FBI standard operating procedure is to start at the bottom and start flipping defendants into witnesses against bigger fish.

 

[General20]

My take away from all this . . . people are going to get arrested, athletic programs decimated, people are going to lose their jobs, and fans are going to be upset . . . and the crazy thing is that nobody actually did anything wrong! These kids deserve to be paid for the money they generate and the schools want to pay them.

The real "crime" here is that all the high major D1 schools just can't agree to come together, separate from the NCAA (and all the smaller schools) and come up with a set of rules everybody can agree on and follow. If they just do that, everything will be above board and everybody will be happy (and rich). If not, each and every school runs the risk of being taken down, and which school it happens to is nothing more than luck of the draw.

 

[scottynguyen]

Both public schools (Lgo FAU Owls!).

Yeah, it has to be Miami.
The only other 'big' Florida privates are non-players. Rollins, Stetson, Embry Riddle.

 

[44doubledees]

The indictments indicate that the FBI video-recorded a July 27 meeting in Las Vegas involving a coach from the school that appears to be U of L and the recruitment of another high school player who is expected to graduate in 2019.

During that meeting, records show, one of the defendants noted that the university was already on NCAA probation and would have to be “particularly careful” about how the money was passed to the high school player and his family. The coach agreed, saying, “we gotta be very low key,” according to the indictments.

This has got "Hollywood movie to be made" all over it, who should play Pitino? Gotta be Pacino right?

 

[Hoo's That]

From what I found online, Auburn is supposedly an UA school.

Mississippi State is Adidas, FWIW.
So are Indiana, Nebraska, and (LOL) Rutgers.
Kansas is Adidas also.

FAU & FIU are Adidas, if folks are looking for other Fla schools besides The U.

As I noted on our board, NC State is an Adidas school, too, but Adidas probably bribed players not to go there in order to protect the brand.

 

[cuse10]

I'll get my dad's take on this. He and Book were pretty close from their AAU and high school days. They weren't peas in a pod, but he saw him grind to where he was at Arizona coming out of NYC.

 

[themorey]

Awe man we're screwed when the NCAA realizes that JB has been steering a 2018 commit to specific advisors, providing financial assistance and free tutoring/basketball lessons.

 

[Alsacs]

This has got "Hollywood movie to be made" all over it, who should play Pitino? Gotta be Pacino right?

He is playing Joe Pa.

 

[Sherman20]

Okay, we are not involved in this. You can take that to the bank. A possible 8th school...Kansas.

Dasher: I'm having a hard time getting too caught up in all the schadenfreude for Pitino, Louisville, Book Richardson, etc. Even though it explains a lot about Zona's recruiting success on the East Coast. This could be a lot bigger than we know right now. This is the kind of scandal that could hurt college basketball as a sport for a long long time to come--unless real reforms are made...meaning it's time to pay the players. What do you think?

 

[triplethrea]

It's greed, plain and simple.

If they're paying $100k under the table, then they would have to pay 5-10x that above the table. There's a reason the schools and the NCAA collude to avoid paying players. More money for the schools and NCAA.

Edit: This was a reply to General20

 

[Frozen]

This has got "Hollywood movie to be made" all over it, who should play Pitino? Gotta be Pacino right?

Pacino is already playing Joe Paterno. He can only play one scumbag coach at a time.

On a related note, Pacino, Paterno, Pitino sounds like a carting company.

 

[dasher]

Dasher: I'm having a hard time getting too caught up in all the schadenfreude for Pitino, Louisville, Book Richardson, etc. Even though it explains a lot about Zona's recruiting success on the East Coast. This could be a lot bigger than we know right now. This is the kind of scandal that could hurt college basketball as a sport for a long long time to come--unless real reforms are made. What do you think?

College basketball will be different tomorrow than it was today. maybe schools will stop cheating and kids will be more interested in playing for the Harvard of central New York and in front of 30,000

 

[RealMcNeil]

Rick Pitino says Adam Silver, NBA will soon allow players to go pro out of high school

Rick knows what's up...

 

[Frozen]

and the crazy thing is that nobody actually did anything wrong! .

Sure they did. There are rules, and they broke the rules. You can disagree with the rules but if you break them there should be repercussions. Besides, even if teams were allowed to pay players, there is still going to be extra under the table money to entice players to go to a particular school.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Some quick reactions:

1) Pretty sad that the FBI is the one breaking this open and not the NCAA. Today's events shine a gigantic spotlight on that organization's totally farcical/ineffectual/hypocritical nature.

2) I have mentioned many times on this board that Pitino must be a huge fan of Calipari, because once Calipari became the official 'recruiting boogeyman', fans forgot about how much of a slimball dirtbag cheater Pitino is/was. Pitino was the original Calipari. The fact they would buy a player WHILE THEY WERE ON FREAKING PROBATION tells you everything you need to know. He's as bad as Calipari.

3) I am 0% surprised that Laranaga/Miami are involved. This is another guy whose public reputation is somehow much different than his actual nature. One of my friends knows a guy who used to be an assistant for Laranaga and he said he's a dirty recruiter, as well as a giant in general.

4) See #1 above.

To be fair, the NCAA doesn't have 1% of the investigative tools that the FBI does. The NCAA is not going in with surveillance and undercover agents. Nor do they have subpoena power or a bevy of other legal tools. As far as I know, the NCAA can interview (willing) witnesses and request documents and that's about it.

 

[General20]

Sure they did. There are rules, and they broke the rules. You can disagree with the rules but if you break them there should be repercussions. Besides, even if teams were allowed to pay players, there is still going to be extra under the table money to entice players to go to a particular school.

You are right of course, I should have said nobody did anything MORALLY wrong.

 

[djorange1989]

The NCAA will probably slap us with probation because Tony Bland played here 15 years ago and Pitino was an assistant here almost 40 years ago. Close enough, right?

 

[Frozen]

You are right of course, I should have said nobody did anything MORALLY wrong.

You can take that view if you want, but I disagree.

 

[Jasoncuse]

From what I found online, Auburn is supposedly an UA school.

Mississippi State is Adidas, FWIW.
So are Indiana, Nebraska, and (LOL) Rutgers.
Kansas is Adidas also.

FAU & FIU are Adidas, if folks are looking for other Fla schools besides The U.

Rutgers adidas deal started in July.

That, coupled with this situation, and it seems like this proves adidas has no idea how to throw money around in a smart way.