Arrests in Major NCAA College Basketball Probe

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
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Dec 16, 2010
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Yeah--granted it seems small compared to the others, but there's clearly a Duke player listed as having potentially received an "impermissible benefit".
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
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March Madness is gonna be lit af when all these teams decide to punish themselves with no postseason this year and Western Kentucky goes in as a #1 seed.
 

SuperManny

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Expect K, Roy and Izzo to retire. Their all old anyways. Cal will take a pro job. Etc.
Yeah--granted it seems small compared to the others, but there's clearly a Duke player listed as having potentially received an "impermissible benefit".
The only thing I saw on Duke was from this story:

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/report-duke-unc-nc-state-named-in-documents-tied-to-federal-ncaa-basketball-investigation/17366186/
Another document, identified as an expense report filed by Dawkins details plane tickets and meals provided to current and former college basketball players payed for by Dawkins.

Included are $106 for lunch with the mother of Wendell Carter Jr.
Not sure what the rules are for lunch expenses with parents but it seems like there isn't much there at the moment.
 
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Average Reds

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Yeah--granted it seems small compared to the others, but there's clearly a Duke player listed as having potentially received an "impermissible benefit".
Anyone who chimes in to say that this "can't touch my school, because (fill in lame excuse)" is engaging in magical thinking.

There is too much money at stake in college athletics for any team to be truly clean. Boosters - who corrupt the system because they want nothing more than pride in their university - have been replaced by corporate execs, who have a vested interest in the success or failure of major programs. And they will work around whatever system a school puts in place to make sure that the players they want get to the "correct" schools.

There are no more "clean" programs. Just degrees of corruption.

Edit: And let me be clear, the villain here isn't the kids getting small handouts. Nor is it the schools struggling within a fantasy system of illogical rules and regulations. (Although their willingness to use the system to squeeze hundreds of millions per school from shoe/apparel companies certainly doesn't help.) The NCAA is the problem. Hopefully, they will collapse under their own weight at some point.
 
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MillarTime

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Oct 31, 2013
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The part about the coaches meeting with Dawkins seems like it was included out of laziness or to maximize clicks and perception of wrong-doing. This is a Dawkins expense report back to ASM and there’s no payment/impermissble benefit there as coaches are free to meet with whoever they want.
 
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shaggydog2000

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Apr 5, 2007
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If this brings down the NCAA model of running a pro sport and collecting all the money for themselves, AD's, and coaches, and not paying the actual on court/on-field talent, then it's great. Talent has immense value in these sports. These athletes will be paid one way or another, as these scandals show. It's time to make it official and make sure all of the revenue generating athletes get some piece of the pie. NCAA and the coaches will fight it tooth and nail because it makes their cut smaller, but it has to happen eventually.
 

DukeSox

absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder
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Dec 22, 2005
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As noted above, Wendell Carter is one of the players named as receiving improper benefits. It's not hard to realize that he's the tip of the iceberg.

Your smug condescension here reminds me of your prediction in the Hurricane Sandy game thread, where you pronounced the storm to be a big nothingburger for NYC right before the surge hit.
Some dude paid for his mom's lunch. Kick Carter out of the NCAA then, I don't care - this has nothing to do with Duke.

Man that storm fucked me, my apt building was without power for a week and that night i had to walk down 51 stories of stairs lol.
 

Greg29fan

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Pete Thamel, Yahoo, and Pat Forde used Duke and Carolina to get those sweet, sweet clicks? I'm shocked.
 

DukeSox

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Pete Thamel, Yahoo, and Pat Forde used Duke and Carolina to get those sweet, sweet clicks? I'm shocked.
Please don't lump Duke in with a program that ran a scam for 20 years
 

HomeRunBaker

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Given that there is not a single HOF coach under indictment, I have my doubts.
It is way early in the process for that. The FBI doesn't want to send runners to prison they want runners to flip to bring charges against the big dogs in this investigation. Give it time.

What I really want to do is WTF did Wendell's mother freakin eat for lunch that cost $106?!?!?
 

Clears Cleaver

Lil' Bill
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Again, what they want is access to bank record and tax returns. Then can see all the different people who provided $$. The fact these clowns didn’t sign many shows that others likely offered more. And getting the records will lead to Nike and under armor etc. and then to boosters. And then to coaches. Etc.

The tax returns show the benefits were not taxed, pressures the recipients to turn on everyone

The only thing that will come of this short term is whomever “wins” the NCAA tournament will likely have done so will illegal players.
 

Sox and Rocks

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I have no ill-will towards Duke, per se, but their fans are another matter. I hope the program burns in hell just for their sake alone.

I can make a similar argument for most of the top programs, and if this cleans up the sport, then dilly, dilly! Duke, though, is by far the worst.
 

DukeSox

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I have no ill-will towards Duke, per se, but their fans are another matter. I hope the program burns in hell just for their sake alone.

I can make a similar argument for most of the top programs, and if this cleans up the sport, then dilly, dilly! Duke, though, is by far the worst.
+1
 

hawaiirsn

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The ESPN article is even worse and more disingenuous
Totally agree with this. They should absolutely be mentioning Duke (obviously huge name program that is implicated, albeit to a much lesser extent than others), but looking at the info that has come out so far and leading with Duke is ridiculous. Really needs to put the relative allegations in context.

Full disclosure, I'm a Duke grad student that enjoys basketball, but by no means a huge Duke fan. I did greatly enjoy being at Cameron watching (the much more heavily implicated) Dennis Smith Jr leading NC State to that upset win last year-- I just enjoy me some good basketball, and secondarily cheer for Duke.

All that said, it seems like there is probably more there for most of these schools including Duke. Like many others have said, probably the tip of the iceberg.
 

Reverend

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I have no ill-will towards Duke, per se, but their fans are another matter. I hope the program burns in hell just for their sake alone.

I can make a similar argument for most of the top programs, and if this cleans up the sport, then dilly, dilly! Duke, though, is by far the worst.
I understand where your are coming from, but Duke proving to be clean would actually underscore that the corruptive forces at work are not necessary to succeed.

Which would underscore just how bullshit and exploitive the existing system is in that it is unnecessary, and therefore parasitic.

I mean, we know this... but it would be a whole new level of demonstration.
 

benhogan

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Yikes, this is going to get ugly real fast, Sean Miller caught red-handed.

If you are a coach that spoke to ASM about paying kids money, start getting fit for your orange jumpsuit.
 

DukeSox

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Arizona has been corrupt forever from Lute, no surprise there
 

Gdiguy

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The spectacular note in that article:

Miller's contract provides that even if he is fired with cause, the university would have to pay his base salary. The contract defines his base salary as his salary plus his peripheral salary. That adds up to roughly $10.3 million through May 2022. The only part that Miller wouldn't be entitled to is $1.7 million from Nike and IMG that is due to him if he completes his contract.
That's some fine negotiating there, Lou

I really wonder - was AZ so incompetent they didn't think "hey, maybe we should not have to pay him if he's fired for cause", or was Miller so pre-aware he was going to do this that he fought to make sure that term was there
 

Reverend

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The spectacular note in that article:

That's some fine negotiating there, Lou

I really wonder - was AZ so incompetent they didn't think "hey, maybe we should not have to pay him if he's fired for cause", or was Miller so pre-aware he was going to do this that he fought to make sure that term was there
If it’s the latter, I bet I can guess something that the forensic accountants are in the process of looking at.
 

The Big Red Kahuna

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If more shoes like this drop (and I assume they will), tournament going to be a mess... Ayton is done. How many others? How does selection committee take into account? I think it’s clear that Cornell is the only program truly clean and should be granted a auto spot in the final 4.
 

RedOctober3829

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deep inside Guido territory
Jay Bilas and Jeff Goodman(a U of A alum) on SportsCenter saying that Miller should never coach another game at Arizona. Seth Greenberg says he's known him for 40 years and is very disappointed and says the same as Bilas and Goodman.
 

Average Reds

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Jay Bilas and Jeff Goodman(a U of A alum) on SportsCenter saying that Miller should never coach another game at Arizona. Seth Greenberg says he's known him for 40 years and is very disappointed and says the same as Bilas and Goodman.
Bilas must feel like an ass after strongly defending Miller’s integrity last fall when his assistant was arrested.

And yes, Miller should never coach anywhere again. But he will.
 

Clears Cleaver

Lil' Bill
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Again, this is just the tip. Once the feds have access to all these players families/handlers bank records then all the dominoes fall. And now they have cause
 

amfox1

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The back of your computer
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tims4wins

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Wonder if Ayton will play tonight. NCAA said it is in UA's hands.

Also wonder if this will lead to the death penalty for UA hoops.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Dec 4, 2005
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I’m sure Miller was the only coach doing this.
Exactly. They all do it to some extent. I don't get the "he shouldn't ever coach again" sentiment. We generally all agree these kids should get paid and that the NCAA is crooked. But then we get outraged when it comes out that someone got them paid. This isn't exactly Pitino hiring hookers. You're right that he probably won't* coach again, but should* is a different discussion.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
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Dec 16, 2010
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Well, it *is* against the rules. He can't pay the kids even if he thinks they deserve it.

And he's not paying them so they can buy a meal, he's paying them so they come play for him.
 

InstaFace

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Can someone help me understand what is criminal about this, as opposed to just a violation of NCAA rules? I read the money paragraph referenced earlier:

Richardson is charged with six felonies: conspiracy to commit bribery, solicitation of bribes by an agent of a federally funded organization, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, mail fraud conspiracy and travel act conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 60 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines.
...and went huh?

OK, so you're taking money from boosters and surreptitiously funneling it to the players, or people connected to the players, so that they come play for you and your school gets more media attention, reputation, and millions of dollars in TV contracts, student morale / enthusiasm / enrollment, your employers make out like bandits... and therefore, you are depriving your employer of honest services and have defrauded them?

The original sin here is the farce of amateurism, no question. But short of fixing outcomes such that it upsets gamblers, what's the FBI's interest here? I feel like it's obvious to everyone in this thread, and meanwhile I'm watching this and to me it looks like Kafka's The Trial.