College basketball's FBI probe gets specific

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

1 minute ago, AlaskanFAN said:

I will say that I am glad that since we did get caught up in a mess, at least it was before the season started and we went ahead and sat both players. I would hate to be in the Position of some of the schools now trying to decide what to do. Some of these schools are playing for Confetence titles and are usually suspects in the sweet 16 and above. They could be potentially looking at forfeiture of all games played with said player.

“SO FAR”  it already seems by sitting our guys we are not or have not or will not jeopardize our soon to be SEC Championship and deep run into the tournament.

It does seem that Auburn was proactive with Wiley and Purifoy. Our compliance people have done whatever they could to mitigate the damage to Auburn  

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

3 hours ago, TigerOne said:

Two bammers in charge, yeah this will be taken care of

"the NCAA Board of Governors and I formed the independent Commission on College Basketball, chaired by Condoleezza Rice"

Emmert's statement is really disingenuous and hypocritical. There's no way he was unaware of how dirty basketball has been for years and years. He knows college sports are full of dirt because he was complicit in what went on at LSU with the nickster. He has to know what the bammers have been doing. It made me sick to read it. What a joke.

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

41 minutes ago, Mike4AU said:

For those who believe this will be a problem for UA, read the report. Sexton had a meal with the agent.  That is all there is in this report. It is a non-event. 

If the meal reported is just based off the two spread sheets shown in the Yahoo  article, they are from Feb & Mar of 2016, Sexton was still in High School at that time. He did not sign with Bama until Nov. of 2016 and did not enroll until Aug. of 2017.

I know we are not getting all the facts, but does anyone know how eligibility is affected to a high school student meeting with an agent before signing with a College?

[Tiger 8,817]

2 minutes ago, Tigerbelle said:

Emmert's statement is really disingenuous and hypocritical. There's no way he was unaware of how dirty basketball has been for years and years. He knows college sports are full of dirt because he was complicit in what went on at LSU with the nickster. He has to know what the bammers have been doing. It made me sick to read it. What a joke.

Makes you even more sick when you think he didn't have the umph to comment about the Michigan State thing...

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

5 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Makes you even more sick when you think he didn't have the umph to comment about the Michigan State thing...

It really does. He's disgusting.

[keesler 5,923]

7 hours ago, AlaskanFAN said:

The whole article is a teaser and leaves a lot out.

The balance sheet showing payments to players/families was just from 2015 and 1 agent at ASM named Pina. How many other agents did ASM have? How many other years did they make payments?

The spread sheet is from Dawkins and is only for 2 months exspense account in 2016. Is that the only time he ever had expenses, I doubt it. Is he the only agent that ever had exspenses? I doubt that also.

The FBI was investigating for 2 years. The other shoe has not dropped yet at all. This was just untying the laces.

The shear fact that the Feds are allowing random media members (Forde/Thamel) to peruse documents obtained through a federal investigation resulting in these two media ass-clowns dribbling out information from those documents for public consumption is sketchy as hell.

 

 

[AUfan_UAgrad 230]

If they (being the NCAA) truly want to do something about improper benefits then this will be their time after everything is out in the open.  We all know that what's currently been released is only the tip of the iceberg.  If just a few teams get a slap on the wrist and nothing drastic comes from this then that means nothing will ever truly be done to try and curb the impermissible benefits.  Which will probably lead to legalizing a lot of these benefits.  

In short, it's time for the NCAA to dump or get off the pot.  Also if the powers that be want to ever get rid of Emmert how much more do they need to happen under his watch?

[keesler 5,923]

5 hours ago, MDM4AU said:

Interesting that after Punk Thamel was on Finebaum talking doom and gloom about Bruce Pearl that this new bombshell article doesn't mention Pearl and only mentions Auburn at the very end. That's not to say in anyway that AU is in the clear...I just find it interesting that this jackass Thamel continues to have a hard on for Auburn for some reason. You can say it's because he totally whiffed on the Cam Newton investigation but, why was he so hell bent on trashing Auburn in the first place? And why do any respectable publications or media give this douchebag any publicity or find any of his work to hold any credibility?

And why the hell would the freaking FBI give him carte blance access to documents obtained in a federal investigation and allow him to publish them?

[AU64 10,122]

1 minute ago, keesler said:

And why the hell would the freaking FBI give him carte blance access to documents obtained in a federal investigation and allow him to publish them?

See my note in another post. 

Individual FBI agents leak stuff all the time to the media....  How much stuff has been leaked against DT in the past year?... and it's usually personal.

So some FBI agent involved in the case sees a chance to take down a couple big time rivals right before the Big Dance....so he or she leaks it to a couple guys who can and will distribute it to the entire sports world and hopes that these guys don't get away with it.. 

JMO, this is not about the FBI as an organization, it's about some FBI agent who wants the NCAA to come down on some cheating schools and / or players before the tournament....knowing if the FBI sits on this stuff a year or so, it will mean nothing with the culprits already in the NBA or elsewhere.    

So now the NCAA has about 2 weeks to decide how to deal with this stuff...before tournament seedings are announced..

[keesler 5,923]

2 hours ago, Tigerbelle said:

Sitting out 1 game that was meaningless in the big scheme of things is a bammer trademark. Count me still skeptical. He can always just move on to the NBA. Most of these kids who are involved will do that anyway if the opportunity is there for them.

 

There will be more punishment than a one game suspension if its necessary.  It won't be at the level of an entire season suspension, but accepting a meal isn't quite at the infraction level of a player accepting cash payments either.

[keesler 5,923]

7 minutes ago, AU64 said:

See my note in another post. 

Individual FBI agents leak stuff all the time to the media....  How much stuff has been leaked against DT in the past year?... and it's usually personal.

So some FBI agent involved in the case sees a chance to take down a couple big time rivals right before the Big Dance....so he or she leaks it to a couple guys who can and will distribute it to the entire sports world and hopes that these guys don't get away with it.. 

JMO, this is not about the FBI as an organization, it's about some FBI agent who wants the NCAA to come down on some cheating schools and / or players before the tournament....knowing if the FBI sits on this stuff a year or so, it will mean nothing with the culprits already in the NBA or elsewhere.    

So now the NCAA has about 2 weeks to decide how to deal with this stuff...before tournament seedings are announced..

Has the NCAA even been given access to these documents?  Have they investigated any of it themselves?  Have they sent out letters of allegations to schools? 

Here's where I'm coming from, hypothetically speaking of course.   We know for a fact that two of our players are under a full season suspension for accepting impermissible benefits resulting from the Chuck Persons case.  What "IF" we have another player who's name shows up on a spreadsheet in an agents expense report/spreadsheet?  How the hell can the NCAA bench one of our players in middle of the NCAA Tournament based off information that hasn't been proven to be factual?  

I fail to see how the NCAA can take action this season when they haven't even followed their own protocol for issuing a letter of allegations or had the time to follow their own investigative procedures?

There are players and programs listed with huge cash payments (LSU looks like up to $50,000 for 2 players) on that one spreadsheet, then they have travel & meals listed with other players - and this is only the report of one single agent for a very small time frame.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,225]

1 hour ago, Tigerbelle said:

It really does. He's disgusting.

You're too nice Belle...he's a worthless piece of s*** working for a toothless and gutless "association".  What's ridiculous is that this, just like the Nevin Shapiro University of Miami violations, would have never come to light if it were left to the NCAA.  And this, just like the Shapiro charges, will in all likelihood be botched beyond belief by the NCAA.

[AU64 10,122]

2 minutes ago, keesler said:

Has the NCAA even been given access to these documents?  Have they investigated any of it themselves?  Have they sent out letters of allegations to schools? 

Probably not....but when the whole world sees this, can the NCAA just do nothing?   I don't know but lots of schools who are more or less following the rules have every reason to be upset about this.   At least 4 schools have fired employees and sat players based on FBI wiretap information and I guess the stuff that came out in CP's preliminary hearing / indictment.  

[keesler 5,923]

13 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Probably not....but when the whole world sees this, can the NCAA just do nothing?   I don't know but lots of schools who are more or less following the rules have every reason to be upset about this.   At least 4 schools have fired employees and sat players based on FBI wiretap information and I guess the stuff that came out in CP's preliminary hearing / indictment.  

They can and should do nothing until they perform their own investigation into these cases.  They can NOT jump to unfounded conclusions and start handing out penalties and punishment when they don't have even a shred of  proof that any of this crap actually happened.

I'll be honest here, if the NCAA jumps the gun and chooses dish out even one sanction or impedes a program from participating in the 2018 NCAA Tournament then IMO every school listed in that FBI investigation should sue the hell out of the NCAA and close that operation down for good. 

The NCAA has no grounds to stand on based off of this hit piece Forde & Thamel chose to publish.  It would be the equivalent of them suspending Cam Newton in 2010 based on bull$#it media circus, the radio talk shows, and the "tapes" they swore up and down they had in hand.   Auburn had every "reputable" media outlet from Sporting News/WSJ/NYT/ESPN/CNN/FoxNews/Yahoo reporting and weighing in on the Cam Newton fiasco.  The NCAA didn't take a knee jerk reaction and hammer us based on the public perception perpetrated by those news outlets and they damn sure better not act any differently just because the while world caught a snippet of one agents expense report on a spreadsheet for a limited time period.

 

[tinman 305]

4 hours ago, Mike4AU said:

For those who believe this will be a problem for UA, read the report. Sexton had a meal with the agent.  That is all there is in this report. It is a non-event. 

I understand that.  But why did bama have to dismiss a coach when the story first broke about the FBI investigation?  There's something rotten with bama in this.  It just hasn't come to light yet.

[AU64 10,122]

38 minutes ago, tinman said:

I understand that.  But why did bama have to dismiss a coach when the story first broke about the FBI investigation?  There's something rotten with bama in this.  It just hasn't come to light yet.

Bama took something seriously....

 

1 hour ago, keesler said:

They can and should do nothing until they perform their own investigation into these cases.  They can NOT jump to unfounded conclusions and start handing out penalties and punishment when they don't have even a shred of  proof that any of this crap actually happened.

I'll be honest here, if the NCAA jumps the gun and chooses dish out even one sanction or impedes a program from participating in the 2018 NCAA Tournament then IMO every school listed in that FBI investigation should sue the hell out of the NCAA and close that operation down for good. 

The NCAA has no grounds to stand on based off of this hit piece Forde & Thamel chose to publish.  It would be the equivalent of them suspending Cam Newton in 2010 based on bull$#it media circus, the radio talk shows, and the "tapes" they swore up and down they had in hand.   Auburn had every "reputable" media outlet from Sporting News/WSJ/NYT/ESPN/CNN/FoxNews/Yahoo reporting and weighing in on the Cam Newton fiasco.  The NCAA didn't take a knee jerk reaction and hammer us based on the public perception perpetrated by those news outlets and they damn sure better not act any differently just because the while world caught a snippet of one agents expense report on a spreadsheet for a limited time period.

 

NCAA doesn't have to do anything I guess.  ...but they can't ignore it either. 

IMO, any school that sees this stuff, does not investigate and does not take action on it's own deserves some serous heat later on when/if all of this is validated.    This is nothing like the Cam situation where there was not a single scrap of paper to support the claims.   Taped meetings and phone calls....and copies of accounting records is a whole different thing....just ask Chuck if you have doubts. 

And I'm betting the coaches and compliance people at the various schools know about this stuff ...just a matter or "pay me now or pay me later" in most cases.   So....schools can do what AU did.....or just roll the dice and do nothing and.let the NCAA take action next year if it chooses.  

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

2 hours ago, keesler said:

They can and should do nothing until they perform their own investigation into these cases.  They can NOT jump to unfounded conclusions and start handing out penalties and punishment when they don't have even a shred of  proof that any of this crap actually happened.

I'll be honest here, if the NCAA jumps the gun and chooses dish out even one sanction or impedes a program from participating in the 2018 NCAA Tournament then IMO every school listed in that FBI investigation should sue the hell out of the NCAA and close that operation down for good. 

The NCAA has no grounds to stand on based off of this hit piece Forde & Thamel chose to publish.  It would be the equivalent of them suspending Cam Newton in 2010 based on bull$#it media circus, the radio talk shows, and the "tapes" they swore up and down they had in hand.   Auburn had every "reputable" media outlet from Sporting News/WSJ/NYT/ESPN/CNN/FoxNews/Yahoo reporting and weighing in on the Cam Newton fiasco.  The NCAA didn't take a knee jerk reaction and hammer us based on the public perception perpetrated by those news outlets and they damn sure better not act any differently just because the while world caught a snippet of one agents expense report on a spreadsheet for a limited time period.

 

I totally agree with this. They have to wait and let the FBI finish the investigation. BUT I think they need to issue a little guidance to the “accused” schools so far, such as “a little CYA now may save you later”!

[AU64 10,122]

59 minutes ago, AlaskanFAN said:

I totally agree with this. They have to wait and let the FBI finish the investigation. BUT I think they need to issue a little guidance to the “accused” schools so far, such as “a little CYA now may save you later”!

Yep....and it's started....      https://sports.yahoo.com/san-diego-states-malik-pope-suspended-amid-ncaa-college-basketball-scandal-212605009.html

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

1 minute ago, AU64 said:

Yep....and it's started....      https://sports.yahoo.com/san-diego-states-malik-pope-suspended-amid-ncaa-college-basketball-scandal-212605009.html

Well the potential is there that down the road if proven schools played with a player deemed ineligible, the games he played could be forfeited and championships vacated! Like Louisville.

[OnthePlains 2,014]

Sean Miller at Arizona is pretty much screwed...http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22559284/sean-miller-arizona-christian-dawkins-discussed-payment-ensure-deandre-ayton-signing-according-fbi-investigation

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

WOW.  Sean Miller at Zona wiretapped discussing 100k dollar payment to a recruit (per our buddy Schlabach).  This thing's getting spicy.  I expect shoes to drop all over the place in the coming days as news orgs start dumping their info to join Yahoo's scoop today.

[WFE12 9,191]

So Bama got caught up with Sexton...Wonder when the football program will get caught ?....I bet never.

[AUFlyer99 647]

1 hour ago, WFE12 said:

So Bama got caught up with Sexton...Wonder when the football program will get caught ?....I bet never.

We can dream.  I see the FBI turning over stones in other sports as well during this mess. Whether or not it includes UAT football is another story, even if it did, then what?

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

10 hours ago, keesler said:

There will be more punishment than a one game suspension if its necessary.  It won't be at the level of an entire season suspension, but accepting a meal isn't quite at the infraction level of a player accepting cash payments either.

That may be all they can prove at the moment....and it may be all they ever have on that kid. But I don't for one minute believe that's all he got....just a free dinner. Sure. Just like the bammers going on trips and to parties with agents..... it is a bammer trademark. A bammer booster can take a recruit on a free trip to the beach while his school is in session and there is no NCAA problem. A bammer star player with no job, from a poverty stricken family can take his mom and his kids out for steak dinners and nobody wonders how he pays for it but bammer boosters hung out with him while he was still in high school. They are blatant repeat offenders, especially in this category. And I think cash money is always a part of it but it's untraceable if it's stored under a mattress. Emmert will protect bammer no matter what they do anyway. 

[AU64 10,122]

All the big time coaches doing the CYA thing....denying they had a relationship with the sports agent...which is understandable.   ...but not addressing what players might have done without their knowledge. 

JMO. .but much more to come on that...some of the named guys will play today and some not perhaps...will be interesting to see how coaches in the playoff hunt respond.