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Message: [QUOTE="RF2044, post: 5066067, member: 40"] There was an article published a few years ago that told the story from the Syracuse coaching staff's perspective. Looked for it for 5 seconds before having to jump on a work call, and couldn't find it. The gist of the story was that SU was all-in on Marbury. He was one of the top players in the nation, he was a NYC hoops god, and he was in our backyard. We'd been recruiting him for a long time, and the entire staff went to where he lived in Brooklyn to make one final push to close the deal. While they were there, JB was at the kitchen table with Stephon and other family members, and one of Stephon's older brothers pulled then-AC Wayne Morgan aside, bringing him into another room for a private conversation -- where he relayed that in order to land Marbury, Syracuse had to deliver a bag [I recall it being several hundred thousand dollars]. The context is that Syracuse had just undergone a huge NCAA investigation a few years earlier, and had been hit with unprecedented penalties by the NCAA for a multitude of infractions. The athletic department had in response proactively established a compliance department to prevent future infractions, so the program was recruiting differently than they had before, knowing that no shenanigans would be tolerated. In the article, Morgan describes that he got sick to his stomach hearing the request, and immediately went in and told JB that they needed to leave. And shortly thereafter, Marbury committed to Georgia Tech, who DID come through with the bag the family requested. Now, I'm not suggesting that Marbury himself is a liar, or that he was aware of the request. Morgan did indicate that the demand came from the brother, not the player. So maybe he just didn't know [which seems unlikely]. But his version of events doesn't accurately portray what went down, or why SU decided to pocket veto their recruitment of this talented superstar. Boeheim would have cut off his left hand to land Marbury. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?