Yahoo! sports is reporting that John Calipari violated the so-called "Bump Rule" at a basketball tournament in July with a prospect he wasn't even recruiting:
Well, if Calipari was trying to make light of Krzyzewski's teflon reputation, such criticisms will seem even more withering this week after it emerged that Calipari appears to be guilty of an even more egregious contact violation just weeks earlier in July. What makes the near-certain violation all the more shocking is the recipient of Calipari's adoration: A rising junior prospect who almost certainly won't reach the pinnacle of recruits who are likely to attend Kentucky.
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"After the game, Calipari shook his hand and said, 'Great game,'" Dr. Kyles told Prep Rally. "I think he was just acknowledging, 'Hey, this kid is holding down my senior.'"
There is no doubt that if the circumstances are true exactly as reported in this story, Calipari committed a deliberate "bump rule" violation, which would be secondary in nature but is nonetheless troubling for all that. This is a rule that every single coach in America knows by heart, which is probably one of the reasons for my skepticism about this report. It isn't as if Calipari has the luxury of thinking nobody is paying attention.
I see no reason for either the young man or his father to lie, although I am very skeptical of the anonymous snitch referenced later:
Austin Kyles also confirmed that the handshake occurred to a Prep Rally source who could only comment on the condition of anonymity. Calipari's handshake and brief conversation with Kyles was first reported by the Aiken Standard, though the newspaper misattributed the tournament at which it occurred (the Standard said that it came at the Peach State Summer Showcase, though Kyles or Calipari was not in attendance at that event, which occurred at the same time as the Super 60 Showcase).
Anonymous sources remind me too much of the Anthony Davis "non-scandal," and I am highly suspicious of this report. Nevertheless, we have to take it seriously, and UK is taking it seriously, just as they should. We'll be keeping a weather eye out for more, and breaking down the particulars later.