Is Witherspoon saying that Wesley hasn’t/doesn’t steer players (or her son) to a certain university? If so, technically she’s right (nothing has been proved), but there seems to be a preponderance of evidence that Wesley is up to something, and it isn’t housing the homeless.

I’m sorry, Ken, but I simply don’t get this statement. It is inconceivable to me that a conversation with William Wesley could be the difference in this case, for a number of obvious reasons. First, all Wesley could do in that situation is make vague allusions to the possibility Selby may be better off if he changes his mind. That’s it. Second, this is apparently the first time they have talked, and his mother’s statement needs no clarification. A private conversation need never be repeated in detail, and quite frankly, even if Wesley urged her son to leave Tennessee and commit to a Nike school, it is not against NCAA rules. I would be concerned if that actually happened, though, but there is absolutely nothing more than the speculation of an embittered suitor to support it. As far as I know, there has been no credible allegation of such tampering anywhere in Wesley’s history.

You know, the idea that it is William Wesley’s fault every time a high-profile recruit changes his mind is frankly what we are going to be left with, and it is not rationally defensible. It is possible, in fact likely, that people have been in Selby’s ear, but Wesley is likely to be only one of a number of them, and having just met the guy, you would not expect that his opinion would carry that much weight. And as far as I know, there is no evidence whatever that Calipari was one of those in Wesley’s ear.

With all due respect, this is essentially the same kind of thing I have been forced to defend Calipari against up until now, only a little worse — in Calipari’s case, he was at schools where NCAA violations either have happened or are alleged to have happened without his knowledge. In this case, people are essentially making allegations of an NCAA violation because a non-booster, non-coach, non-affiliate with any school happened to have a short conversation with a recruit.

There is no “appearance of impropriety” here. Calipari does not need Selby badly enough to risk violating NCAA rules to get him. The “appearance of impropriety” is totally mitigated by circumstances — the kid committed a long time ago, and kids who do that often change their mind. Are we going to impute nefarious behavior to every recruit who decommits now, and suggest Don Calipari ordered his “button man” William Wesley to make him an offer he can’t refuse? That’s where I see this going.

From now on, even if there is no record of a conversation with William Wesley, that will always be alleged. What’s UK supposed to do, dissociate Wesley? On what basis? He isn’t a booster and he isn’t, as far as we know, acting on anybody’s behalf but his own. That is his right under the Constitution of the United States, and until somebody proves that he has broken the rules or is actually doing something nefarious, even if legal, I think the guy should get the benefit of the doubt.

Finally, I am weary of the argument that Kentucky needs to be especially sensitive to NCAA violations. Every school, even the ones who have never had a whiff of impropriety needs to be equally sensitive to playing by the rules. UK has not had an NCAA infraction in basketball in 20 years, and at some point, we have to acknowledge that the UK compliance staff and administration have demonstrated a commitment to NCAA compliance. Placing a special burden on them would be fair if we were five or maybe even ten years removed from such an incident, but at what point do we stop looking over our shoulder in fear? In my opinion, that point is past … well past.

By the way, with respect to karma — neither UK nor John Calipari has been credibly alleged to have any involvement whatsoever, and you will notice that I did not accuse Pearl of anything nefarious in the Scotty Hopson affair. Pearl did not steal Hopson, Hopson did that himself. I don’t believe Calipari had the first thing to do with this decommitment, so why should he get the blame for it? Are we going to assume that Wesley was acting on his behalf? If so, we should fire Calipari right now, because that is a blatant NCAA violation and UK should not put up with it for one second. So if you actually believe what you wrote, you should now be calling for Calipari’s firing or resignation.

Nice piece, but I find very much in here with which to disagree. But that doesn’t change the fact that you do a great job around here. :-)

If this kid goes to Louisville there goes the whole Nike-WWW-UK-Calipari conspiracy. Everybody wins!

I’ll show myself out…

A shoe company basically blackmailing a kid to change to one of their sponsored schools is just flat wrong. No one is saying that UK or Cal had anything to do with it, just like no one is saying that Oregon or Memphis did either.

with every one. We don’t want to see the bad press, we don’t want to have to deal with all of the innuendo. WWW is probably going to go down in history as one of the most prominent sports figures of the 21st century. And he never picked up a ball or played a minute on the court. So, are we to have the entire college basketball world resting on our shoulders until we prove we are not guilty of anything?

Probably.

And they are going to enjoy sitting on us while they pontificate about their high standards, and how they would NEVER even look at another recruit when he is “committed”. They would also NEVER take a kid with problems, or questionable character, or who’s scores are questionable, or who has parents that are looking for “perks”. They have the very best in the business to look after their program so that no unsightly behavior goes on. And you know what?, they may look pure, they may sound pure….but they are no different than anyone else. We have a bullseye on our backs the size of Texas, and any idiot with a dart wants a chance to hit the target.

I guess I am learning to " Embrace The Hate"…..

I think your overreacting on this one Ken. According to KSR this morning Cal hasnt had any contact with Selby since his commitment to UT. I know that Wes has talked to him but one conversation should not a decommitment make and no one can even prove that Wes urged him to come to UK. I dont know the circumstances of this kids decommit. It’s doubtful that we’ll ever know BUT if UK fans are going to take umbrage at this situation I think that the next few years are going to be very anxiety filled for us. Relax and let this thing play out. As good as Selby is it’s far from a done deal that he even comes to UK. We are recruiting other players out there just as good.

Maeshon Witherspoon, Selby’s mother, admits to talking with Wesley at the LeBron James get-together, “I met Wes, but we really didn’t talk; that’s not a connection like everybody thinks.” I understand the first part of her quote, you know, about her meeting Wesley, but the second part of her remark … well, I’m still trying to make sense of it: “… that’s not a connection like everybody thinks.” What exactly does that mean?

In my opinion, this means that Selby’s mother is aware of all the rumor and innuendo in connection with WWW. She expected that once the fact that she and her son had met WWW at around the time the decommittment occurred to open the floodgate of “it had to be that dirty WWW up to his old tricks again.” I feel like her statement was meant to address that in a non-confrontational way.

But I told you so.

Get use to it, but keep as many fingers crossed as you can while allowing a few to hold your nose.

and others believes UK cheats all the time.They have thought this for the last sixty years. According to them we wake up every day looking for some recruit to steal. We are going to have to live with it. We have to avoid any suggestion of cheating or of any violation, no matter how minor. All we can do is give Miss Bell a big stick and the authority to use it Other than that, all we can do is “Embrace It” and to hell with them.

is for this afternoon????

I’m a Memphis Tiger basketball fan, and this story was linked on something else I was reading, so, if you want to discount the rest of my post based upon that, then skip to the next post. For anyone left reading, I thought this was a very well-written article, and I immediately empathized with the author’s concerns. Up until April, I had the same ones.

For the better part of 9 years, I was a big supporter of Coach Calipari, particularly the last 5 or 6. His teams won games, and who doesn’t like that? But the recruiting that Cal is noted for became, just as it seems to have become in the eyes of the author of this story, a matter of concern. The more I read about Mr. Wesley, the more it sounded like trouble.

The guy is a prototypical shady character, and his connections with Nike, Calipari, and Oregon assistant coach Kenny Payne ought to make anyone associated with those individuals or institutions nervous. Where does his money come from? What is the source of his influence over highly talented highschool basketball players? What is his relationship with Nike? My first shudder when I began reading about this “friend” of Calipari’s was when Cal called him (in the infamous quote) "a goodwill ambassador to our (Memphis) program. People whose relationship with someone can’t be nailed down usually have an illicit relationship, in my experience. This fellow is nothing if not arrogant, and he will not meekly whimper away.

http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_5735&pageNum=8

Nothing has been proven. Nothing, to my knowledge, has even been alleged by any law enforcement or other regulatory agency as to the workings of William Wesley. But there’s something in Proverbs about the wise seeing trouble coming and hiding while the foolish continue and suffer for it. Might be appropriate advice, in this case. Maybe not — who knows?

I should also point out that, although I said earlier that my concerns ended last April, that’s not entirely true. These kinds of relationships, even when they’re past, can come back to bite you, and I’m not sure we’ve dodged the bullet, yet. I hope we have, and I don’t wish any harm on the University of Kentucky’s basketball program because of Worldwide Wes and his pal, your coach. As for Mitch Barnhart laying down the law in regards to this issue, my guess is that Cal will be running your program just like he was running ours — with virtual impunity. If Cal wants it, he’ll get it as long as he’s winning. You may think otherwise now, but stick around. You haven’t tasted winning for a while, and maybe you’ve forgotten how drunkening it can become.

Anyway, good luck. Looks like you’ll have a great team next year. I don’t particularly like anybody else in the SEC, so beat the heck out of ‘em. By the way, I loved the “Tubby Eruptions” exclusion in the guidelines for using this site. I’m still laughing about that one!

Sorry about piling on with another link to the GQ article. Guess I should have read the entire thread before commenting.