NCAA Rules: Is Indianapolis Saying It's Okay To Steer Recruits In Return For Business Deals?
by Glenn Logan on Jul 20, 2011 8:50 AM EDT
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PrintI'm sorry, but this whole thing strikes me as baffling. According to Andy Katz, the NCAA has no plans to do even cursory examination of suspected deceased fraudster David Salinas' business dealings with certain NCAA coaches. Here's the money graf:
A high-ranking source with direct knowledge of the NCAA's interest in the case told ESPN.com that the coaches invested money in the alleged scheme but that it isn't an NCAA issue and concluded no rules violations occurred.
According to a Houston Chronicle story the other day, at least one former NCAA coach anonymously claimed that Salinas offered to steer players on the Houston Select team he helped found to college coaches in return for investments with him. Just yesterday, former Houston coach Tom Penders went on the record with Dan Wolken:
Penders, now retired, told The Daily that Salinas solicited him for a $100,000 investment in their first meeting and "made a strong, strong implication" that it would help Houston gain access to prospects that were part of the Houston Select, an AAU program that Salinas founded.
And the NCAA has no problem with this? Really?
Whether the NCAA changes its mind or not (after all, dead men tell no tales), there should be legislation passed expressly forbidding this type of arrangement. If this isn't a violation of NCAA rules, it should be.
At minimum, the NCAA ought to ask each of Salinas' known NCAA coaching clients, past and present, if they were solicited in the way that Penders suggests, formally and on the record. Current coaches will be forced to answer truthfully or risk an unethical conduct charge if they are discovered to be dissembling.
This needs to be examined, and I don't care who's ox gets gored.
UPDATE:
Looks like Katz was wrong. According to this story, the NCAA does intend to look into the possibility that some coaches benefited recruiting-wise from their association with Salinas:
The NCAA is investigating the relationships between the late David Salinas, a Houston area financial advisor, and a number of current and former college basketball coaches and players according to Moses Malone Jr., son of the Hall of Fame center.
That's a little more like it.
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Isn't a NCAA issue?
Wow! I’m with you, this is off.
Twice the Gators (and twice the...er...me) at a fraction of the price...The Bull Gator and Alligator Army.
Glenn, you've completely missed the point...
Obviously the NCAA is way too busy making sure that all of Calipari’s wins are not in the next UK media guide. They can’t be trifled with something silly like coaches giving money to secure commitments from players…….
;)
Dayman, Fighter of the Nightman, Champion of the Sun
Oh, also the NCAA says it is ok...
….for Texas to broadcast High School games of their recruiting targets on the new Longhorn Network.
Dayman, Fighter of the Nightman, Champion of the Sun
Unless more information comes out, I'd side with the NCAA for once
Even after Tommy Pender’s allegations I don’t know if an investigation would be worth pursuing. If you look at the list of Houston Select alumni it isn’t all that impressive with the exception of former LSU football player Brandon Lafell. Salinas didn’t have much to sell as far as talent goes and the players weren’t going to the schools of the coaches who had money invested with his fund.
If you look closely at Katz' opening paragraph, he says
“The NCAA has no intention at present of opening a formal probe into whether a number of high-profile basketball and football coaches and other NCAA officials were defrauded by Houston financial planner and AAU basketball operator David Salinas, a source familiar with the matter told ESPN.com.”
It says NCAA will not investigate whether the coaches “were defrauded.” It does not say NCAA will not investigate connections between the AAU team, Salinas, and recuits.
To me, that makes no sense.
The NCAA has no criminal investigative authority. Of course it wouldn’t investigate that.
I’m pretty sure he was talking about the possibility of NCAA violations related to that matter, not the matter itself.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
by Glenn Logan on Jul 20, 2011 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions
I suspect
The NCAA staffers have been able to confirm that current NCAA president and others were not signifcantly involved in this one. So the investigation can now move forward. But I wonder if Salinas was the only one out there doing this?
Kentucky Basketball - The Reason for Living
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