College basketball's FBI probe gets specific

[gr82be 14,422]

5 hours ago, Tigerbelle said:

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. 

I imagine that cash can be hidden in a lot of places and a little happy meal is certainly possible. 

[gr82be 14,422]

10 minutes ago, AU64 said:

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.

Could be indeed. These players are most certainly the best on their perspective teams so the school has somewhat of a conundrum. Play and risk future penalties, suspend and take your chances of losing sooner than later or play and hope that nothing comes of it. It will be interesting to see for sure. Then again a school could suspend and the team actually still plays way above expectations. Let me think a while, I'm sure I can come up with someone as an example. 

[Mikey 16,566]

22 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?

He and his buddy Thayer Evans totally whiffed on the "sociology scandal" at Auburn a few years before Cam Newton. They ended up with lots and lots of egg on their faces over that pack of lies and have been looking for revenge ever since. So far, all they have received is more egg-face. May it ever be so.

[AU64 10,122]

14 minutes ago, Mikey said:

He and his buddy Thayer Evans totally whiffed on the "sociology scandal" at Auburn a few years before Cam Newton. They ended up with lots and lots of egg on their faces over that pack of lies and have been looking for revenge ever since. So far, all they have received is more egg-face. May it ever be so.

Mikey...you can focus on the source if you wish.....but better forget that and look at what's being disclosed.  No way all of that is "hearsay" or rumor.  Don't get into the mode that if you don't like the messenger, you discount the message.  And this isn't about AU anyway.....AU's problem is Chuck P and the FBI and the muckrakers had nothing to do with that. 

https://sports.yahoo.com/black-market-diaries-emails-hoops-corruption-case-detail-inner-workings-sports-underbelly-030605930.html

 

[MDM4AU 331]

31 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Mikey...you can focus on the source if you wish.....but better forget that and look at what's being disclosed.  No way all of that is "hearsay" or rumor.  Don't get into the mode that if you don't like the messenger, you discount the message.  And this isn't about AU anyway.....AU's problem is Chuck P and the FBI and the muckrakers had nothing to do with that. 

https://sports.yahoo.com/black-market-diaries-emails-hoops-corruption-case-detail-inner-workings-sports-underbelly-030605930.html

 

Well, Thamel made it about AU when he went on Finebaum saying he would be shocked if Pearl wasn’t fired. That’s why Mikey and I are discussing it here. 

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

10 hours ago, WFE12 said:

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

Keep in mind the only allegation is that Sexton had a meal with an agent, which isn't a violation.  So far.

And as for the NCAA doing not doing anything right away, they are just about incapable of jumping to conclusions.  They've done it once on anything of significance and their "jurisdiction" was so egregiously over-stepped that you can bet that won't likely happen again in any of our lifetimes.  Emmert's been castrated and it's the likely reason why his contract keeps getting extended.  Remember that the NCAA is a voluntary "association".

[MDM4AU 331]

The Arizona/Miller part hurts at my house. My wife is a UA grad and with Auburn’s basketball history, UA gave me a team to pull for in March. 

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

2 minutes ago, PowerOfDixieland said:

Keep in mind the only allegation is that Sexton had a meal with an agent, which isn't a violation.  So far.

And as for the NCAA doing not doing anything right away, they are just about incapable of jumping to conclusions.  They've done it once on anything of significance and their "jurisdiction" was so egregiously over-stepped that you can bet that won't likely happen again in any of our lifetimes.  Emmert's been castrated and it's the likely reason why his contract keeps getting extended.  Remember that the NCAA is a voluntary "association".

Yep. And the whole issue with Notre Dame may cause them to leave the NCAA, and once one school does it, that could be the first of many dominoes to fall.

[aujeff11 6,243]

12 hours 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

Isn’t it too late to start suspending players that are implicated? Most of the regular season is already in the books and those wins shouldn’t count. 

[AU64 10,122]

24 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

Isn’t it too late to start suspending players that are implicated? Most of the regular season is already in the books and those wins shouldn’t count. 

A very good question.....guess some of what matters is what the schools know, when they learned it and what they did afterward.  JMO but schools that keep on playing these guys after these revelations are taking a risk......they just have to weigh the pros and cons of their decisions.  

As for the general issue....most of us have grumbled for years about how corrupt college basketball was, especially some of the AAU connections and the "pipeline" programs.   We knew in our gut that dirty stuff was going on and that only the minor programs like AU got penalized....mostly because the big schools knew how to cover things up and the "plausible deniability" factor was still acceptable if a blue blood school was ever mentioned. And to be blunt about it....the "I didn't know anything about it" argument is still an issue with BP and how the NCAA views things.    It was much easier to catch someone like Pitino dead to rights and fire him outright (and maybe the Arizona coach).....and less clear what to do about the HC when an assistant is involved.....apparently on his own.  

Re Sexton and bama.....sounds like that former assistant must have been at the lunch with Sexton that has been referenced in the recent articles....and bama cut him loose immediately and slapped Sexton's pinky finger ...based on what they knew at the time.  If more comes out, I'm betting they can't ignore it.  

. 

[AURandy56 148]

I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that when AU played the first game at Tuscaloosa, the TV announcers were talking about Sexton and---either I misheard or was dreaming or whatever---they said he wears a new pair of shoes for each game. Now, I don't know this kid's economic background so his family could be wealthy and can afford that. But---new shoes for every game? Am I the only one who heard that? Like I said earlier, I could have been dreaming this or misheard, but I thought to myself--how could this kid afford new shoes before every game? I instantly answered my own question. He plays for Bama. 

[TigerOne 1,140]

Meanwhile major headline on updyke.com

another uat sport that should be investigated

Alabama gymnastics takes down Auburn on the road

 

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

30 minutes ago, AURandy56 said:

I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that when AU played the first game at Tuscaloosa, the TV announcers were talking about Sexton and---either I misheard or was dreaming or whatever---they said he wears a new pair of shoes for each game. Now, I don't know this kid's economic background so his family could be wealthy and can afford that. But---new shoes for every game? Am I the only one who heard that? Like I said earlier, I could have been dreaming this or misheard, but I thought to myself--how could this kid afford new shoes before every game? I instantly answered my own question. He plays for Bama. 

You're not the only one, this from a Vandy board....

While listening (for too long) to the network's announcers, they must have mention a few thousand times (exaggeration) that Collin Sexton wears a new pair of specially chosen shoes for each basketball game. They even zoomed in to show last night's pair with what appeared to be a gold band around them.
That seemed rather odd to me and I wondered why that isn't some sort of NCAA violation. 

Which begs the question, how has Nike not been implicated in all of this?  

[aujeff11 6,243]

2 hours ago, AU64 said:

A very good question.....guess some of what matters is what the schools know, when they learned it and what they did afterward.  JMO but schools that keep on playing these guys after these revelations are taking a risk......they just have to weigh the pros and cons of their decisions.  

As for the general issue....most of us have grumbled for years about how corrupt college basketball was, especially some of the AAU connections and the "pipeline" programs.   We knew in our gut that dirty stuff was going on and that only the minor programs like AU got penalized....mostly because the big schools knew how to cover things up and the "plausible deniability" factor was still acceptable if a blue blood school was ever mentioned. And to be blunt about it....the "I didn't know anything about it" argument is still an issue with BP and how the NCAA views things.    It was much easier to catch someone like Pitino dead to rights and fire him outright (and maybe the Arizona coach).....and less clear what to do about the HC when an assistant is involved.....apparently on his own.  

Re Sexton and bama.....sounds like that former assistant must have been at the lunch with Sexton that has been referenced in the recent articles....and bama cut him loose immediately and slapped Sexton's pinky finger ...based on what they knew at the time.  If more comes out, I'm betting they can't ignore it.  

. 

So what happens if they ignore the consequences simply because they know there are  multiple NCAABB moneymakers involved? That would be unfair to Auburn and the other schools that were implicated months ago (and appeals for reinstatement denied). I’m very confused by this whole situation and I don’t even know why the FBI cares about these schemes that’s been going on for years. Bullets are flying but thank God amateurism is safe. 

Lastly, since nothing came out about Bruce is he in the clear now?

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

17 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

Lastly, since nothing came out about Bruce is he in the clear now?

The very large douchebags like Thamel would say the other shoe still hasn't dropped.  I'll stick with Bruce.....

[OnthePlains 2,014]

19 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

Lastly, since nothing came out about Bruce is he in the clear now?

I want to think positively on this but my fear is this is just the beginning. This was only one agent’s records over a relatively short period so there is likely to be tons more coming out. Having said that, I think the fact that Bruce is still our coach is a good sign...but I won’t be relieved until the season is over and he is STILL our coach.

[PigskinPat 2,575]

8 minutes ago, OnthePlains said:

I want to think positively on this but my fear is this is just the beginning. This was only one agent’s records over a relatively short period so there is likely to be tons more coming out. Having said that, I think the fact that Bruce is still our coach is a good sign...but I won’t be relieved until the season is over and he is STILL our coach.

I agree and think there will be more to come out. This is just one guy’s records. There’s no way he was the only one doing this kind of thing.

[doverstutts 1,643]

i am doing some logical speculation here, but outside of some obvious ncaa violations that have been documented, i think its over for us and bruce as far any serious charges.....bruce spent 3 rough years here trying to build a program with scrubs,transfers,jucos and diamonds in the rough players.....we have had exactly ONE highly recruited player sign and that was heron....horace was a low 4 star with no shot other than a dunk and mac was a 3* that was as raw as a peanut.....purifoy was a 4* with extreme potential but lazy as a fat dog,and baggage with academics.......getting wiley helped get chuma, so its not like AU was setting the woods on fire with high $ players....hell, AU was the only d1 offer that bryce had and harper maybe had the same deal, i can't remember.....bruce pearl is/was not going to take a chance on ruining his second chance by doing illegal stuff....its what person did and hid that still concerns me because he made 26.7 million bucks in the nba, was being paid a quarter million as an assistant at AU and was doing illegal stuff for peanuts compared to what he has/was making.....i do wonder if it was not entrapment,though......i don't think that there is anything else going to pop up with us or bruce......the reason bruce ain't talking is that he has good lawyers that know just how corrupt the fbi and federal prosecutors are, and that was a very good move based on recent events that have exposed the crooked bastards and their own criminal activities.....hopefully the fbi brass have to share a jail cell with chuck person, they deserve each other

[AU64 10,122]

Good points dover....Chuck seemed to be a lone actor....and the upside of mostly having 3* players is that the vultures are not hanging around them.

I expect we will just be an after thought pretty soon.

[GwillMac6 20,664]

 

[OnthePlains 2,014]

8 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

 

He’s done. 

[CR 2,438]

College basketball has been dirty for decades and now the NCAA wants to act shocked that agents and shoe companies have been conspiring with coaches to funnel players to certain schools. When coaches have been hired openly because a certain university is a Nike or Adidas "school" and that coach has ties to that shoe company's "connections." I hope some reporters will hold Emmert's feet to the fire and ask some tough questions when he spouts his garbage about them cleaning up the sport. They sure didn't mind cashing the checks from the tournament rights and the universities cashed the checks from the apparel companies gleefully.

[GwillMac6 20,664]

7 minutes ago, CR said:

College basketball has been dirty for decades and now the NCAA wants to act shocked that agents and shoe companies have been conspiring with coaches to funnel players to certain schools. When coaches have been hired openly because a certain university is a Nike or Adidas "school" and that coach has ties to that shoe company's "connections." I hope some reporters will hold Emmert's feet to the fire and ask some tough questions when he spouts his garbage about them cleaning up the sport. They sure didn't mind cashing the checks from the tournament rights and the universities cashed the checks from the apparel companies gleefully.

Ucla won all those titles because sam gilbert bought and paid for all of those stud players under "saint" John Wooden. You are so right it goes back decades. It goes back even further than UCLA I am sure. It is all about not getting caught. This is bs. The FBI should not be using so much resources on this. Why the heck do they all of sudden care about college basketball? ridiculous.

[GwillMac6 20,664]

 

[gr82be 14,422]

3 hours ago, AURandy56 said:

I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that when AU played the first game at Tuscaloosa, the TV announcers were talking about Sexton and---either I misheard or was dreaming or whatever---they said he wears a new pair of shoes for each game. Now, I don't know this kid's economic background so his family could be wealthy and can afford that. But---new shoes for every game? Am I the only one who heard that? Like I said earlier, I could have been dreaming this or misheard, but I thought to myself--how could this kid afford new shoes before every game? I instantly answered my own question. He plays for Bama. 

My stepdaughter played softball for an ACC school and Nike does supply them with a lot of shoes. Just saying it's a possibility.