Statement from Hackett: believes Gary was offered "incentives"

Submitted by MGoPolo20 on

Jim Hackett was quoted as saying he thinks Gary was offered "incentives" during his recruitment. Very bold statement for someone attached to an athletic department to make and I'm pretty surprised it hasnt gotten any more coverage so far. My bets are on Ole Miss or Auburn as to who it was

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ijohnb

February 4th, 2016 at 11:00 AM ^

like Hackett doing this at this exact moment.  Even though it is not meant to, it in part reflects poorly on Gary or those around him.  Like I said, only through innuendo, but I think it is a risky take to come out with right now.  It is also a little odd, if we got him anyway, why make this statement?  I don't see the upside.

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Hail Harbo

February 4th, 2016 at 11:05 AM ^

It reflects poorly on Gary and those around IF you believe that Michigan bagmen incentivised him more than did Clemson's.  On the other hand, if you believe that Michigan did not offer any incentives, then it speaks highly of Gary and those around him that they didn't give in to temptation.

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Blazefire

February 4th, 2016 at 11:06 AM ^

You ever walk through a city park at night? Does it reflect poorly on me because I was offered weed, coke, heroin and god knows what else? Or does it reflect well on me that I said no?

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The Mad Hatter

February 4th, 2016 at 11:09 AM ^

If anything I think it makes him look better.  He was offered a pile of cash to go to Clemson and he turned it down.  That to me shows character.

If it makes his uncle or whomever look bad, I don't care.

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ijohnb

February 4th, 2016 at 11:20 AM ^

I said, I think by innuendo only, it could be seen as something that reflects poorly.  Say the bag man Hackett is referencing was Clemson, and suddenly Michigan For Sure turned into a heated two way race at the last minute?  There is room in there for some conclusions to be drawn as to how inticing said benefits were, which could reflect poorly to some.  Look, I am not saying it would be rational critcism, but why even open the kid up to it at all?  He signed here, so once again, what is the upside here?

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The Mad Hatter

February 4th, 2016 at 11:37 AM ^

But I think that if these recruiting practices are ever going to be exposed / reformed, some people are going to take some hits along the way.  I'd rather it not be a Michigan player, but it's going to be someone.

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stephenrjking

February 4th, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^

I'm getting provincial here, but why us? We already got taken to the cleaners for stuff everybody does by the Freep, because we're supposed to do things the "right way." Harbaugh bungles a couple of decommits and it becomes a big story, while SEC schools are dumping guys in silence. Why do we have to be the ones to fix a system that, we believe, we are one of the few power schools trying to actually uphold it?

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The Mad Hatter

February 4th, 2016 at 12:04 PM ^

But if not us, then who?  It's going to take a clean program to expose the dirty ones.  Not that I think that will happen, or that anything will come of Hackett's statement.

In fact, I think that short of some kid getting pissed off and wearing a wire or recording a cash exchange with a hidden camera, nothing is going to change.

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stephenrjking

February 4th, 2016 at 11:31 AM ^

What if he didn't turn down other stuff? What if a bag man or two from some other school bought him lunch, or fixed the heat in his home, or replaced the tires on Mom's car? What if it was a relatively innocent mistake two years ago, and he wiser up and went clean this year, but Hackett's statement gets the reporters working on it and stuff comes out? What if this becomes a moderate story? He's the #1 recruit in the country. The reason a lot of this alleged stuff doesn't come out is because no local paper in SEC country is stupid enough to do any digging. It's hard enough to make money in media as it is; any paper that attacks a beloved football program will be mercilessly attacked by its customer base and will lose access to the team; basically a death sentence. I mean, we're more rational than the SEC, right? And the Freep is still persona non grata here two coaches and two ADs after the Rosenberg flap. But Gary is from New Jersey. New York media is not dependent upon a college fanbase for circulation. This gets traction and the NYT gets interested, suddenly there are real reporters digging up dirt that's never been dug up before...

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ijohnb

February 4th, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^

presumably Hackett would understand all of that as well.  I am not sounding any alarm bells at this point, but I have to say I am extremely surprised that Hackett came out with this and I don't think that will be the end of "it," whatever "it" is.

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TheBG

February 4th, 2016 at 11:04 AM ^

Would be cool if one of these kids taped the offers. Ncaa would be in a tough spot not to act then. I understand why a kid would not do that the whole snitch thing. Still would be cool to see though.

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gwkrlghl

February 4th, 2016 at 12:02 PM ^

I'm sure (in this case) Dabo Swinney never sat in front of Rashan and said "The University of Clemson and I, DABO SWINNEY, will pay you $250,000 to play here".

It's probably more like "Hey I set up lunch for you and your family with [Booster]" or they just happen to run into a booster on campus and the booster then makes an offer. If the booster gets busted, then the program has no choice but to deny any involvement and toss said booster under the bus but the program escapes. No way there's any kind of useful paper trail or email trail with this stuff

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The Mad Hatter

February 4th, 2016 at 12:07 PM ^

When I couldn't sleep.  If I was the recruit (or family member) I'd secretly tape everything during the recruiting process.  Every meeting and conversation.

If a booster is offering a bunch of cash to a recruit, I don't think it would be too hard for a smart person to get him to run his mouth about where the $ was coming from and at whose direction.

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FormerlyBigBlue71

February 4th, 2016 at 11:08 AM ^

Who cares?  Gary Chose Michigan.  Of course he was offered things...just as every high level recruit is.  To me this shows he has tremendous character and I can't wait to see this kid busting skulls for the Maize and Blue.

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J.

February 4th, 2016 at 11:24 AM ^

Well, if I were to offer an illegal* inducement for a student to attend college, I'd probably say something along the lines of "look in the closet of your dorm room when you arrive."  Then again, maybe some bagmen are more trusting than I. ;)

* per NCAA bylaws, not -- as far as I know -- per any actual laws. :-)

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J.

February 4th, 2016 at 11:37 AM ^

Eh, good point.  I guess I wouldn't be a very good bagman. :-)  I suppose there'd have to be a good-faith payment up front.  Then again, what's to say that there wouldn't be consequences?  Someone upthread compared it to robbing a drug dealer -- sure, they may not report it, but you're going to be sleeping with one eye open for a while.

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J.

February 4th, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^

Eh, probably not directly, although ask Nancy Kerrigan about that.  But they could certainly make things difficult for his family.  Some people don't take kindly to being cheated.

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TheBG

February 4th, 2016 at 11:52 AM ^

What if the recruit paid them back when they went pro though? Seriously though Plus 1 for the Kerrigan reference. Although she never stole from that wench lol

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gwkrlghl

February 4th, 2016 at 12:04 PM ^

You're basically calling their bluff that they would turn you in. Worst case would be that the individual booster turns you in (so the offending program escapes) but then that booster would be disassociated from their favorite program and you'd have to be real pissed off to take the fall there just to get back at an 18 yr old.

I would assume most guys get a down payment and then the lump sum or payments after enrollment. Like "I'll pay you $250,000. Here's $10,000 as a show of good faith and then you'll get the rest after you're on campus"

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Wolvie3758

February 4th, 2016 at 11:12 AM ^

the NCAA does very little..we know that SEC and ACC schools are dirty but nobody NOBODY does anything about it...

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BoFan

February 4th, 2016 at 11:16 AM ^

Was Zúñiga wearing a press pass when he talked to Hackett at SOTS? I doubt it. ADs don't hurl accusations. It was probably an honest slip to an alum. Especially A guy like Hackett. On the other hand transparency and honesty is like Hackett.

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JamieH

February 4th, 2016 at 11:20 AM ^

Unfortunatelly it wouldn't surprise me if Dabo is a cheater.  He likes to play the "aw-shucks good-ol-boy" personality card, but I'm not totally buying it. 

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stephenrjking

February 4th, 2016 at 11:23 AM ^

I think this is a mistake by Hackett. It puts an unseemly focus on Gary, whether it's deserved or not, and this is surely not the kind of attention Gary wants. And it frankly puts focus on us, too, since Gary actually committed here. Maybe Michigan was cleaner than other schools, but if this were to go through a full vetting process, what are the chances that someone finds something, somewhere, that breaks a minor rule or two? There's no good that can come of this.

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