Outline of the SI Story on OK State Posted
http://insidesportsillustrated.com/2013/09/09/sports-illustrated-invest…
Part 2 and 4 are the ones I find actually troubling, as well as 5 potentially, obviously. If 4 is well documented, it's entirely possible Gundy and Miles committed an actual crime, IMO. And should be suspended pending investigation before kickoff Saturday if they're well documented.
September 10th, 2013 at 11:21 PM ^
Maybe that was partly dealt with in CRex's last sentence. Things seem to have gone wrong very quickly between RR and many of those in the best position to present him as a favored son. Maybe they still could have tried it but I think it would have seemed hollow.
One group of insiders was P.O.d at the sidestepping; another was, probably unexpectedly given that he was Carr's idea in the first place, on the outs with Rodriguez. It might have worked with some subset of the masses but there wasn't anyone left on the inside that would have bought it.
September 10th, 2013 at 10:38 AM ^
during the post-Lloyd coaching search - that Michigan had zero desire to hire Les Miles. And the sail boat incident was just a cover for not wanting to talk to him. Granted a lot of the stories about Miles are unverified. But, the shady circumstances and incidents that have swirled around him for years paint a clear picture, at least to me of a creep that MIchigan would want no part of.
I'm neither a supporter nor a hater of RR. His term here was an abject failure. But, it was a failure U-M was partially responsible for. Also, I think the manner in which the school and a portion of the ex-player base did not fully support him was shameful, and a stain on the program's proud history.
September 10th, 2013 at 11:08 AM ^
I might be more inclined to believe this view of sailboat Bill if it wasn't for the similar chain of events that occurred during the Rick Pitino recruitment. Another instance of Martin being MIA when shit hits the fan during the biggest hire of his AD career.
September 10th, 2013 at 1:04 PM ^
Oh, you mean that successful coach who was found to be schtupping a restaurant waitress while still being married to Mrs. Pitino.
September 10th, 2013 at 2:44 PM ^
Kept us from winning a national title.
September 10th, 2013 at 3:32 AM ^
Les Miles can eat grass for all I care. He may have gone to Michigan, but he's not a Michigan Man.
/allegedly
September 10th, 2013 at 4:59 AM ^
I've always been taught where theres smoke theres fire and Miles has been blowing smoke signals for years. It's best to stay as far away as possible. When it blows up down in LSU it's going to be one huge bonfire.
September 10th, 2013 at 3:04 PM ^
Plus the implication is easy to overdo - "if there is any visible evidence of hidden thing X then X must be true". That said I doubt Les is terribly clean.
September 10th, 2013 at 4:52 AM ^
If those allegations are true...then Les Miles and Mike Gundy are essentially Pimps.
September 10th, 2013 at 10:45 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 5:42 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 6:36 AM ^
"OSU’s hostess program, Orange Pride, figured so prominently in the recruitment of prospects that the group more than tripled in size under Miles. Both Miles and Gundy took the unusual step of personally interviewing candidates. Multiple former players and Orange Pride members say that a small subset of the group had sex with recruits, a violation of NCAA rules." - summary of Part 4
Every part of this outline is troubling to me really, but this one perhaps has one of the more explicit bylaws associated with it. There are numerous prohibitions on the sorts of recruiting inducements that are prohibited outright (perhaps interestingly, sex is not explicitly listed), but the biggest and most important takeaway from Bylaw 13.2 is that the coach and their staff cannot be involved directly or indirectly in the offering of any benefits beyond those expressly permitted. I may be wrong, I have to think that not only is Part 4 against NCAA bylaws but that there is something at least faintly criminal about interviewing candidates for the Orange Pride personally if it was known by the coaches that dates or sex were a possibility. Even if it was just to unduly influence a recruit's decision, it's still a violation.
Of course, if this falls outside the NCAA's statute of limitations - which it likely does given the timeline mentioned - then they can't do anything really.
September 10th, 2013 at 7:52 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 8:09 AM ^
I would think that more than likey it would be, and that if the NCAA could or were inclined to question anything, they might spend a lot more time on the academic fraud allegations and the money trail suggesting that players were paid. It will be interesting to see the full story, that's for sure.
September 10th, 2013 at 2:23 PM ^
if they found former hostesses willing to testify that the expectations were explicit.
My guess is that they won't want to look there.
September 10th, 2013 at 9:42 AM ^
Are female-only "hostess" programs typical? It seems to me that by restricting the showing-around-campus function to female students, there's an implication that sexuality was to be used in some way.
September 10th, 2013 at 9:46 AM ^
Very, very typical. SI did a big writeup on these programs at least 20 years ago and I doubt they've been getting any less common in the interim. Unfortunately, can't Google the damn thing because every keyword combination I can think of just brings up the OSU article.
September 10th, 2013 at 10:42 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 2:46 PM ^
from the wild to the second hand story about the ex-players girlfriend saying he was creepy, I don't want to think how that interview went.
September 10th, 2013 at 7:35 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 7:43 AM ^
But what if the Orange Pride "assisted" with stretching? Hmmmmm....
September 10th, 2013 at 8:20 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 8:25 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 8:34 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 5:05 PM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 8:45 AM ^
I wonder why they chose OSU to target with their investigation, and not a football team that people care about, like... hmmm... Alabama?
September 10th, 2013 at 9:53 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 4:02 PM ^
There is a HUGE ethical conflict of interest here. There might be some substance in there...but having his name on the article is a gigantic red flag for the credibility of the whole piece.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/post.aspx/Jason_Whitlock_slams_SI_write…
September 10th, 2013 at 11:43 AM ^
I presume the reason is you have to find a program with a former player base that's disgruntled, which seems to be the case with Oklahoma State.
September 10th, 2013 at 9:23 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 9:39 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 9:44 AM ^
Someone get Bill Martin's sailboat team honorary degrees, stat. Look what they have saved us from.
September 10th, 2013 at 9:52 AM ^
HA! The jokes on you. NCAA is going to lower the boom and take away not one, but two whole scholarships.
September 10th, 2013 at 9:52 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 10:01 AM ^
This stuff happens is so many places. Wake me up when somebody has the balls to catch Alabama. Okie State? Who cares.
September 10th, 2013 at 10:23 AM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 10:08 AM ^
My guess for what happens next: OSU will release a statement saying they are "very troubled" by these "egregious and blatantly false accusations," but they will conduct a "thorough internal investigation" to verify that no such "illicit activity was happening under our purview." This investigation will find that, though the athletic department committed some violations, they were "nowhere near the scope, severity, and breadth of the accusations initially leveled against this great university." They will be "troubled that any violations occurred at all, since we have the highest standards for character and integrity" and so will impose sanctions on themselves, amounting to:
- A reduction of the number of girls in the Orange Pride group
- Removing the responsibility of interviewing the girls from Coach Gundy (which would probably be the hardest thing for him, let's be honest),
- Sending their coaching staff to an ethics and integrity seminar in Hawaii for 3 weeks in January (all expenses paid).
The NCAA will respond with a statement along these lines: "we believe that OSU has conducted a thorough and objective investigation into potential violations at their school, and while we regret that they uncovered some minor violations, we feel that the self-imposed sanctions are just and should prevent the staff from committing such violations again in the future. At this time, we do not feel the need to conduct our own investigation into the Oklahoma State football program."
September 10th, 2013 at 10:32 AM ^
FYI, here's the link to the full write-up of part 1:
September 10th, 2013 at 11:10 AM ^
Enough heat on Les may push him out at LSU, or at least cause recruits to look elsewhere. More likely he would end up at Bama if he wants to avoid Les nuclear fallout, but one can always dream.
September 10th, 2013 at 12:20 PM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^
I thought the NCAA had the discretion of waiving the statute of limitations in egregious cases of misconduct bordering on "loss of institutional control". Who knows? Maybe Miami and OkieState will face severe punishment, especially since OkieState had a pretty severe NCAA violation in the 90s.
1 scholly per year, self imposed!
September 10th, 2013 at 1:35 PM ^
... Being from the school that graduated Dexter Manley.
September 10th, 2013 at 2:30 PM ^
September 10th, 2013 at 2:59 PM ^
haha, their nickname is the pokes! You can't make this up...
September 10th, 2013 at 4:40 PM ^
The "application" is a joke... T-shirt size & photo. That seems rather insignificant for such a large "responsibility:"
Being a part of Orange Pride is a huge responsibility. You will be required to attend and work each home football game for the 2013 Football season, raise $300.00 in sponsorship money, attend weekly meetings, and work recruiting official visits, Junior Days, Coaches Clinic, etc./piling on
September 10th, 2013 at 4:58 PM ^
...it's the interview, not the application, that counts.
September 10th, 2013 at 5:17 PM ^
Does it mean Fournette is any more of a Michigan lean?? A man can hope right?