OT - Per former recruit, Calhoun knew of improper benefits

Submitted by Erik_in_Dayton on

I haven't seen this posted.  A former UConn recruit is saying that Jim Calhoun knew that he received improper benefits.  This would mean that Calhoun lied to the NCAA during its recent investigation of the matter. 

Undermining this kid's credibility, though, is the fact that the kid (apparently) signed something during the NCAA investigation that contradicts his current statement...He also wants to be paid for any further interviews, and while that doesn't mean he's lying now, it does of course look bad.   

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2011/news/story?id=6282307 

It will be interesting to see what the NCAA does with both this situation and the Auburn football situation.  There is at least a bit of a cloud over both national champions.

Finally, how much do I appreciate the fact that John Beilein follows the rules so closely?  A lot. 

EDIT: Here is the original New York Times story:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/sports/ncaabasketball/02uconn.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=nate%20miles&st=cse 

BlueNote

April 5th, 2011 at 10:26 AM ^

I can't believe there hasn't been more media coverage of the UConn situation during the tourney.  Isn't it noteworthy that the program winning the NCAA Tournament is in big trouble?

jtmc33

April 5th, 2011 at 10:30 AM ^

On Saturday ESPN did a very short piece on both Calhoun and his knowledge of benefits and then a very short piece on Calipari and his 15 year assistant making texts/calls to recruits outside the allowable timeframe (something to the effect that the assistant and Callipari claimed they had a miscommunication on the rule --- however, they have worked together since UMASS)

I imagine both of these stories will explode over the next week

Something tells me there will be no discussion on Butler and VCU for at least another 300 days.

umchicago

April 5th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^

it was all over the news several months ago (same kid).  it has been well-publicized that he is suspended next year for 3 games, iirc.

that said, i believe that where there is one blatant example of illegal recruiting, there are probably several more.  i wonder how that UConn program got built from nothing and how he landed all those top recruits under his watch.  hmmmmm.

RONick

April 5th, 2011 at 10:27 AM ^

Calhoun is a scum bag.  I hope he get's nailed just like I hope Auburn gets an example made of them.  Unfortunately, the only thing that will shock me is if the NCAA flinches to something like this...

Maizeforlife

April 5th, 2011 at 10:36 AM ^

Considering the financial trouble this kid seems to be in, I'm not surprised that he's asking for a little kick-back for future interviews.  To me, that doesn't discredit him, he's just broke.

Erik_in_Dayton

April 5th, 2011 at 10:47 AM ^

I thought this part of the NYT article was important:

___________________________________________

Instead, he is out of basketball, without an agent and trying to find a career. He said he would tell any young basketball player to avoid taking extra benefits and to sacrifice in the short term.

“I’m definitely going to tell my kids to do it the right way,” he said of his two sons. “You know, because you don’t want to ever go through what Daddy went through. This is just something to learn from, grow from for real. And this is something that should never happen again.”  

___________________________________________

The fact that he's asking for money will surely be used against him, though. 

 

 

ZooWolverine

April 5th, 2011 at 1:11 PM ^

It doesn't automatically discredit him, but it's not unreasonable to be suspicious as a result, whether he's broke or not. If he's trying to get money out of the deal, there's stronger incentive to be dishonest: nobody's going to pay him for an interview where he says that nothing improper happened. If he's broke, that incentive is probably only more powerful because he needs the money even more.

Tater

April 5th, 2011 at 10:37 AM ^

I am guessing Calhoun "retires on top" and avoids consequences.  UConn will probably get hammered back to the place they inhabited on the food chain before the cheating started.  That probably means they would lose straight up to the women's team.

I wonder how long before a school sues an ex-coach who is found to have cheated for the revenue it has to give back to the NCAA when sanctioned?

jtmc33

April 5th, 2011 at 10:49 AM ^

I imagine the only way a school would sue in that situation is if they are prepared to find out how "high up" the problem goes.  Because once you sue the coach and his defense gets rolling, it's going to be an all-out tell-all as the coach lashes out at the A.D., the administration, the boosters, etc; essentially "You can't sue me for doing what I was allowed to do (or told to do) by the University, A.D."  

It would be a case of the Univ claiming they had a rogue coach and the coach claiming he had permission and/or expectations to do what he did from the University.  Whatever the truth would be, what a complete embarrassment for the school.

Never would happen

MAgoBLUE

April 5th, 2011 at 10:45 AM ^

The NCAA investigastion is over so I don't know what you are all talking about.  I don't understand all the hate for Calhoun.  He coached at friggen Dedham High and Northeastern before building UConn from the ground up.  The charity work he and his wife do for cardiac health is amazing.  He yells on the sideline and isn't the best interview but who cares?  His track record speaks for itself.

Geaux_Blue

April 5th, 2011 at 4:43 PM ^

my point is you think it should be the "players serve 5, tressell serves 0" because that was the penalty before Jim was revealed to have 'known'

it was upped bc he knew and did nothing about it. 

similarly, calhoun served a minor punishment bc he claimed he didn't know. this is being called into question. according to you, this changes nothing.

Erik_in_Dayton

April 5th, 2011 at 10:52 AM ^

Nothing you said means that this kid isn't telling the truth.  Of course, though, he might be lying. 

A resolved NCAA investigation and the possible wrong-doing of a guy who does a lot of good sounds like the same recipe as the Tressel situation.  Again, that doesn't mean that this kid is telling truth (and I'm a lot more sympathetic to Tressel than the average Mgoposter).   I just think it will be very interesting to see how much the NCAA is willing to investigate its two reigning national champs.  That doesn't mean that either program is guily of anything (or anything new, in the case of UConn). 

APBlue

April 5th, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^

I think the tone of the board is just a reflection that people don't like cheaters.  We don't like it when the team we root for gets busted for extra practice.  We don't like it when our biggest rival gets busted for hiding the fact that they're playing with ineligible players - for an entire frickin' season.  We don't like it when a coach who is busted for cheating is allowed to defer a 3 game suspension to the following season, a season which he may not even be around for because he may retire, then is rewarded with (his team earning) a National Championship. 

What is there to like?  The guy's a cheater. 

MAgoBLUE

April 5th, 2011 at 6:48 PM ^

I agree with what he said in that video.  Sure, he could have been more polite but he was getting ambushed by a line of questioning that came out of left field.  Saying Calhoun should give money back to the state of Connecticut because of the budget shortfall in the recession was just plain retarded.  That guy got the dressing down he deserved.

Edit:

Also, that was a post game press conference.  The questions are supposed to be about basketball.  Calhoun said "if you want to go outside and talk about this I will", which I interpretted as him saying he was willing to talk on the record for the reporter's story.  Not, I want to fight you outside.  Then the economics reporter said "if you guys covered this stuff I wouldn't have to do it" which was directed at the sports reporters in the room.  You can hear them start to take issue with the guy.  That incident does not reflect badly on Calhoun in my eyes.

jmblue

April 5th, 2011 at 4:48 PM ^

I'm not sure why you assume that anyone who thinks poorly of Calhoun's actions automatically has some personal beef with the guy.  I don't know what kind of a person he is. Maybe he is a nice guy.  But that doesn't mean I should turn a blind eye to wrongdoing he's committed.

Nothsa

April 5th, 2011 at 1:51 PM ^

These guys do this every year; it uses pretty old data due to the 6-year time lag, but Calhoun was of course the coach then, too:

http://tidesport.org/

Of the 68 tournament teams, only Arizona (20%) and UAB (25%) had lower graduation rates than UConn.

So, there's the cheating, there's the evidence that Calhoun knew about the cheating long before it was reported, and there's the fact that the Huskies have one of the worst graduation rates of all tournament teams. What's not to like about Jim Calhoun? 

MAgoBLUE

April 5th, 2011 at 2:43 PM ^

The Cheating - Calhoun has one violation over a 40 year coaching career in the NCAA.

The Evidence He Knew - Sketchy at best considering the source had a chance to speak up already, didn't, and is now asking for money.

The Graduation Rates - He coaches more NBA ready players than almost anyone else in the country.  Education isn't the goal of that program.  If you think it is then you aren't living in the real world.

 

Again, I don't understand where the hate comes from.

thisisme08

April 5th, 2011 at 10:58 AM ^

The guy didnt help the NCAA investigators when the matter was being investigated but now that he is broke he suddenly has had a change of heart but stated that he will not divulge any more information without being compensated.

Sorry but your credibility was just blown out of the water and unless you have a SMU Style check with Calhouns handwriting on it I wont believe a damn word you say. 

ChitownWolverine82

April 5th, 2011 at 11:17 AM ^

Not gonna lie, definitely a UConn basketball fan.  I think they definitely deserved the win, and people are trying to take this away from the current players who are not at fault.  I won't pretend to act like Calhoun is as clean as they come, but in light of the situation, the player in question never even made it to UConn.  I know that doesn't mean much, but its not as bad as what happened here at Michigan, and doesn't stack up to Tresselgate.

APBlue

April 5th, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^

I mostly agree.  The current players do deserve the win.  However, the problem that I have with that is that it's assuming that this is the only time that Calhoun has been guilty of this violation.  I have a hard time believing that. 

The bigger issue that I have is with the NCAA's practice of letting people defer their suspensions to the following season.  I think Calhoun should have had to serve his suspension this year.  And no, I don't think that would have changed how their season ended.  I do think 3 games is a little light, though. 

sULLY

April 5th, 2011 at 11:33 AM ^

Who is suprised by this?  I personally believe that Calhoun and Calipari are the two dirtiest coaches in NCAA basketball.  He gets suspended for a few games here and there every few years but I'm amazed that violations have never caught up with either of these scumbags.

M2NASA

April 5th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^

UConn's cheating is as poor kept a secret as Tressel's.  He already has a three-game suspension waiting for him next year at the start of Big East play for NCAA recruiting violations.

It's almost better to run a program that is pretty much known to be corrupt.

See kids, cheating does pay.

APBlue

April 5th, 2011 at 1:34 PM ^

I'm just tired of the NCAA handing out candy-ass penalties.  If they would suspend Calhoun for half of his Big East season (no contact w/the team) and take a few recruits away for a couple of years, it would send a message to others that might consider "bending" the rules.  Likewise, if they would slap a show cause on Tressel, it would serve the same purpose.  That remains to be seen, but I think you get my point.  Start holding the universities accountable as well, so they hold their coaches to higher standards. 

Once the NCAA starts hammering the cheaters that get busted, all of the coaches that are currently working in the "Gray Area" (cheating, but have not gotten caught) will step in line.