Yikes! As many as 3 dozen Division I basketball programs could face NCAA penalties

[BobS]

And I hope this agent and his agency lose their license. They certainly knew all they did was out of bounds.

[Lighthouse]

Uh oh. Was the UK staff aware of this? A loan???

I don't think it matters whether the UK Coaches knew about this or not. The player knew and even if he didn't inform UK about the money, it's still a violation. The only good thing about this mess is Duke is implicated too, and that could bode well for the rest of us.

[Joneslab]

If this is all stuff that happened while these players were in high school then it will be extremely difficult for the NCAA to do much about this. You would have to vacate a bunch of seasons.

[George]

If this is all stuff that happened while these players were in high school then it will be extremely difficult for the NCAA to do much about this. You would have to vacate a bunch of seasons.

Rose was in high school when he committed his violation.

[TrueblueCATfan]

UGH..this is not news I wanted to hear this morning

[surveyor]

My proposal to pay kids an amount equal (or more) to the value of a scholarship, room and board and meals seems sensible now. Pay `em to play for whatever amount and then let them choose to use it for education or not. Their choice.

[Joneslab]

Rose was in high school when he committed his violation.

True. But an analog here would be if 200-300 players cheated on their entrance exam.

[Dwight Schrute]

Rose was in high school when he committed his violation.

Yeah but are they gonna vacate 30 teams seasons? Doubtful.

It'll be the end of the NCAA if they try it.

[Joneslab]

My proposal to pay kids an amount equal (or more) to the value of a scholarship, room and board and meals seems sensible now. Pay `em to play for whatever amount and then let them choose to use it for education or not. Their choice.

Agreed.

Or if some agent wants to give them money, then so be it.

If an agent is trying to woo you to become a client by giving you a loan, that shouldn't be the NCAA's deal. They're paying for your services; these players aren't indentured servants.

But it has to be said that ASM had about the worst business model ever. Most of these players never ended up signing with that agency. That's how everybody goes broke.

[George]

Yeah but are they gonna vacate 30 teams seasons? Doubtful.

It'll be the end of the NCAA if they try it.

How so? I don't disagree, necessarily, but how do you mean? You think the Power 5 will actually walk? You think it'd lead to enough loss of fan interest that ratings and merchandise sales plummet?

[Dwight Schrute]

How so? I don't disagree, necessarily, but how do you mean? You think the Power 5 will actually walk? You think it'd lead to enough loss of fan interest that ratings and merchandise sales plummet?

I do - IF it's revealed the schools knew nothing about it. If the NCAA tries to enforce penalties on a broad scale among the most powerful programs in the sport, I can see the power 5 conferences voting to walk.

I have a hard time seeing fans losing interest - there's not a lot of warm sentiment for the NCAA among UK fans. I imagine most other program's fans are similar.

[Joneslab]

One unusual thing about this is how similar Noel's, Bam's, and Knox's recruitments all were.

They each were last-minute decisions. Each were rumored to other schools. Bam and Knox weren't even on UK's radar for chunks of their recruitments.

What you would hope is that the Feds haven't found something in these files that shows ASM was trying to steer the players to schools. That's where it could get very bad. That means that there would be a separate money trail leading from the University of Kentucky (and a lot of other folks) to ASM.

This could explain how they kept this business model going.

[BobS]

None of this stuff is illegal. These are all NCAA matters. Why are the Feds leaking this stuff to the public instead of just ignoring it or giving it to the NCAA as a matter of fact?

[Dwight Schrute]

None of this stuff is illegal. These are all NCAA matters. Why are the Feds leaking this stuff to the public instead of just ignoring it or giving it to the NCAA as a matter of fact?

I've wondered the same thing - the only answer I've gotten that makes sense is that these agents and players are essentially defrauding schools by claiming themselves to be amateurs. But in the Louisville case that doesn't make sense because Pitino was approving the payments to Brian Bowen.

[surveyor]

But it has to be said that ASM had about the worst business model ever. Most of these players never ended up signing with that agency. That's how everybody goes broke.

Yup. He's also for sure not the only agent doing this, he just did a bad job of it.