I'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.