Anyone blown away that Memphis head coach John Calipari and Athletic Director R.C. Johnson just happened to hire Tarik Evans' personal trainer after Evans committed to Memphis? Anyone really astounded that both players left for the NBA after one season? Me either.
Concerning the personal trainer thing, R.C. Johnson said, "sometimes package deals are OK." Um, not really. Package deals are a direct violation of NCAA recruiting policy.
If the flood gates weren't already open for NCAA recruiting scandals, NBA Commissioner David Stern implemented the one-year rule in 2006 which tore them completely off the hinges. He turned colleges from educational institutions to development leagues for the NBA.
President of the Faculty Athletics Representation Association Alan Hauser nailed it in a USA Today interview. "A university is a place for education, not for merely showing off athletic wares and then leaving," Hauser said. "That makes it like a minor league sport where a (player) reads a book now and then."
Players have to meet (at least some soft of) acedemic requirement in order to get into the Division I schools that receive enough national exposure to get them drafted. Can anyone really gasp when an athlete uses alternative methods (OK, cheats) to get into a school?
It is maddening to think players who can't spell Southern California are allowed to stroll the same campus with future chemists and engineers, and do it for free. Why should a player, who has the ability to play in the NBA, waste everyone's time (including their own) playing in college?
I imagine Derrick Rose's visit to Memphis goes like many other Division I players' visits:
Athletic Director: "So (insert Rose, or O.J. Mayo or Kevin Love or Michael Beasley etc.) we were all very impressed by your work on the court, and your 1590 on the SAT.
Player: "Yeah."
A.D.: "OK, good. Well, we were told your only mistake on the SAT was spelling your own name wrong.
Player: "Yeah."
A.D.: "Good enough for me. So, we've got all the facilities you need, a H2 Hummer in the parking lot, a gym bag full of agents' phone numbers and a high rise apartment all waiting for you. Do you have a pen to sign the letter of intent?"
Player: "I got a burnt sienna colored crayon."
A.D.: "Wow. Um, that's fine. Now, hey, can you show us that free-throw-line dunk again?"
No doubt Stern's policy is fuel for scandal, but it's the mighty dollar that leaves green colored finger prints all over the steering wheel. The NCAA signed a $6-billion dollar deal with CBS in 1999 to carry the men's basketball tournament. After that, it's a simple trickle down effect.
The NCAA is being paid for a product. The NCAA is paying out a load of cash to the winner of the tourney. The schools pay for scholarships, plane trips and hotels, therefore they must pay the best coaches insane amounts to get the best players to put out the best product and win the tourney.So John Calipari, making 31.65 million, is told to win by any means. How else could a school justify paying 30 mill for a coach other than that it will pay dividends in the end? And those dividends are paid by winning. Enter: Derrick Rose a.k.a "any means."
The resolve is far more complex than taking away Memphis's Final Four. It has to come from Miles Brand (president of the NCAA) it has to come from president's of colleges, college boards and athletic directors collectively saying "enough!"
And David Stern can say "enough" with his silly one-and-done policy that teaches players that if they slam enough dunks, block enough shots and nail enough three-pointers, they will get drafted higher. It doesn't do much to force players to do things generally associated with college like, say, going to class.
Certainly the scandals won't end as long as big money is involved, and big money will always be involved, but if the R.C. Johnson's and John Calipari's of the world are held responsible by fans, media and school administration, illegal recruiting can be, at very least, cut down.
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