Mark Few calls out the NCAA
God bless this guy. I love coaches that speak their mind. Go get em Mark.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/25501056/gonzaga-bulldogs-coach-mark-says-ncaa-lacks-urgency-investigation
December 10th, 2018 at 3:23 PM ^
Nice that he says Gonzaga, Tennessee and Villanova don't cheat. Be nice if he gave the obvious one a nod, but whateve.
December 10th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
You're taking that way too personally. They were playing Tennessee and his mentioning of Villanova was simply a way to take a pointed shot at UNC.
Few specifically said "there's a lot of teams who do it right."
December 10th, 2018 at 4:56 PM ^
Didn't Tennessee have a scandal under Bruce Pearl like less than a decade ago?
December 10th, 2018 at 5:19 PM ^
Yes, and now they're coached by a completely different person.
December 10th, 2018 at 5:44 PM ^
So not that far removed from the cheating.
December 11th, 2018 at 1:06 AM ^
Basketball and football programs are completely controlled by the head coach and in basically every conceivable way Rick Barnes is not Bruce Pearl.
December 10th, 2018 at 8:06 PM ^
Not sure I understand where he takes a "jab at UNC". Not saying it's not there, just that apparently something went over my head.
December 10th, 2018 at 11:44 PM ^
When Few said "the national champions two of the last three years" --- I definitely read that as him indirectly mentioning the national champ in that other year.
And that team was one where basketball students were literally taking fake classes, but the NCAA shrugged their shoulders. They also beat Gonzaga in the Final that year.
Perhaps Few is a bit bitter - but I'm not sure I blame him either.
December 10th, 2018 at 4:52 PM ^
It is a little ridiculous to have Tennessee on that list given its history when Bruce Pearl was there, but the others and of course, the obvious one, sure.
December 10th, 2018 at 6:12 PM ^
Well, as someone else said - Bruce Pearl isn't there any more. Their current coach (Rick Barnes) doesn't have a track record of issues.
Also: Tennessee fired Donnie Tyndall pretty quickly in 2015 after it became apparent that Tyndall had NCAA issues bubbling up at his previous job (Southern Miss). I'll give UT some credit for showing a level of proactive-ness as regards Tyndall.
I'm not trying to be a jerk with this comment. But I think the following paragraph is true:
If one believes that "well, School A had issues with the NCAA under some past coach, so they shouldn't be given the benefit of the doubt in the present", then if one is being consistent they wouldn't be giving Michigan basketball the benefit of the doubt in the present either.
At some point - the past is the past. Judge the present day regime.
December 10th, 2018 at 6:43 PM ^
I think there is a qualitative difference in wondering if a school is still corrupt after being clean for 15-18 years and only 3-4. Belien and his sterling reputation have been at UM longer than Tennessee has been "clean." At 3-4 years, there is still a good chance that the people that allowed the permissive atmosphere to be created are still there and involved. Fair or not, it is going to be a good 10 years before anyone considers Louisville to be a clean program again.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:24 PM ^
Do we really think the NCAA will do anything differently because of these comments from Few?
December 10th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^
Probably not, but maybe if they heard from the many?
December 10th, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^
Sometimes the needs of the Few outweigh the needs of the many.
December 10th, 2018 at 9:04 PM ^
If by the many you mean the four or five clean programs... I am not sure that will help.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:27 PM ^
No, but that shouldn't stop us from recognizing and appreciating coaches who are willing to call out the NCAA on their BS.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:30 PM ^
Agreed. I'm just extremely pissed and frustrated since the Daxton Hill de-commitment at the current state of collegiate athletics. Even moreso after Lorenz and Webb seemed to indicate that the change to Bama had to be for no other reason than BAGMAN.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:46 PM ^
There was nothing from Sam's radio broadcast this morning (from around 8-8:30) that indicated bagmen, in fact he took pains to avoid saying that, came right out and SAID he wouldn't say that, and proceeded to entertain every other theory and possible reason why, from callers.
He did say the family stopped being communicative after the flip.
December 10th, 2018 at 4:03 PM ^
He's not going to come out and say it. If he did, he'd lose a lot of credibility with recruits and their families.
What other possible reason could there be when, after in-home visits, Michigan was given no indication about this and even Alabama did not have confidence after their visit, to then all of a sudden change a commit and then shut down all communication?
Nothing changed on Michigan's end, especially anything included in the reasons why Hill and his family said they committed in the first place.
December 10th, 2018 at 4:30 PM ^
Did you miss the football game at noon on 11/24?
December 10th, 2018 at 5:13 PM ^
Hill committed before the season started. If the results of individual games mattered that much to him, why wouldn't he wait until the season played out? If the game mattered that much, why wouldn't he bring up any concerns at his in-home visit with the staff? It's not like he had to get a spot before it filled.
Sorry. I'm not buying that Michigan getting stomped in 1 game pushed Hill to Alabama. Go back and read what Hill and his family said on why he committed to Michigan in the first place. Unless they were being deliberately disingenuous, Michigan winning 10 games and losing 2 to top 6 teams on the road should have had no effect on his decision.
December 10th, 2018 at 6:11 PM ^
Daxton Hill did not commit before the season. According to his page on 24/7 he committed on the 18th of September.
December 10th, 2018 at 7:04 PM ^
Even better. He committed even AFTER we didn't play well and lost to a rival on the road. Thank you for helping me prove my point.
December 10th, 2018 at 9:28 PM ^
Listened to the podcast. If I heard him correctly, he said he hadn't heard any bagmen were involved, but even if he did hear bagmen were involved he wasn't going to say it.
It all does seem shady, even if Bama writers were surprised by it. What it sounds like to me, and this is pure speculation is that someone got in his dad's ear and dad was enticed by some sort of offer.
Kind of like Drew Henson's dad. Idiot that he is .
December 10th, 2018 at 3:28 PM ^
Absolutely not, no chance whatsoever, but it is nice that somebody brings it up.
It would be interesting if Kansas plays Duke in the championship and then the NCAA fingers both of them in August so nobody wins....
December 10th, 2018 at 3:33 PM ^
I jumped on your with my comment and I shouldn't have. My apologies.
Could the NCAA really find anything that the FBI could not? It shouldn't take long just to verify the FBI's findings and lay the hammer on all teams ASAP. Few is right that a lot of these teams and coaches could very well be playing deep into the tourney when they shouldn't be playing in the first place.
December 10th, 2018 at 7:11 PM ^
Of course, the NCAA can ask a lot of questions that the FBI wouldn't have had an interest in. They can also talk to people that the FBI did not. The FBI wasn't pursuing NCAA rule infractions that weren't against the law. They did provide leads along with testimony.
The FBI got a lot of information the NCAA couldn't due to their subpoena power. But when it comes to coaches and school employees, the NCAA can force them to testify or face sanctions.
I support the NCAA doing their own investigation before punishing the schools involved. They should take whatever time is needed. Saying they won't issue rulings until after the season doesn't inspire confidence in their motivation.
As a practical matter, it makes sense though. Time is short and schools can appeal their penalties. With limited investigators they can't investigate every school at once. While having schools like Auburn and Kansas in the finals would bring some bad press, it could be worse. Imagine that several schools get banned from the tournament, but Kansas and Auburn are in because their investigations weren't completed. The media coverage could be a nightmare for them and that's the one thing they always look to avoid.
December 10th, 2018 at 4:45 PM ^
That was my Hope last year and nothing happened....
December 10th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^
Nice little shot at UNC.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:29 PM ^
I’m a UNC hoops fan and laughed at his little jab at UNC. Still salty from being runner-up.
December 10th, 2018 at 4:41 PM ^
Must be tough for you only winning 3 titles since 2000
December 10th, 2018 at 5:33 PM ^
to hell with unc. to me, academic fraud is way worse than paying players. and to hell with emmert.
December 10th, 2018 at 8:46 PM ^
UNC does both - academic fraud and paying players...
December 10th, 2018 at 4:19 PM ^
He must think he has the horses to beat UNC this year. Not smart to diss UNC before a game at their place.
December 10th, 2018 at 5:20 PM ^
That could be an icy handshake with Roy.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:29 PM ^
Really respect Mark Few on this issue, and several others.
Similar to Beilein, seems like a truly good guy and a great coach who tries to extricate himself and his team from the political and financial NCAA "dumpster stench".
If Kansas makes it to the Final Four with their professional players, with Bill Self directly involved, that would be a tragedy...
December 10th, 2018 at 3:40 PM ^
These comments are Few and far between.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:45 PM ^
That's way too easy. There are more than a Few good men on here that can pounce on a snippy little pun with that name.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:50 PM ^
This man is clearly not a Few sandwiches short of a picnic.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:56 PM ^
....and definitely not one Few over the cuckoo's nest.
December 10th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
This was a fewtile attempt at best.
December 10th, 2018 at 9:47 PM ^
All it took was a few good men who couldn't handle the truth
December 10th, 2018 at 3:48 PM ^
Even in this piece Schlabach just can't help himself from minimizing (emphasis mine).
Testimony and evidence during the first trial alleged that coaches from a handful of prominent Division I programs, including Arizona, Creighton, DePaul, Kansas, Louisville, LSU, NC State, Oklahoma State and Oregon, might have committed NCAA violations while dealing with Dawkins and the other men.
December 10th, 2018 at 3:54 PM ^
To be fair, he didn’t mention whose hands. Shaq’s? Maybe it’s an appropriate expression. Trump’s? Definitely an exaggeration.
December 10th, 2018 at 4:03 PM ^
Coach Mark better have his house in absolute tip-top order..
December 10th, 2018 at 4:07 PM ^
The NCAA is a "club" for lack of a better word and is not a governmental agency. And schools are free to belong or not belong to this club as they see fit.
It doesnt matter if we like it or not, the leaders of the club have a few members they deem to be quite valuable and as such they choose to look the other way when they cheat. So when teams like Duke, Arizona and Kentucky get every top-shelf basketball player they want year in and year out they do nothing despite an FBI investigation.
And likewise when schools like Alabama, OSU and Georgia are able to pull a seemingly endless supply of 5 star football players on the regular they dont investigate because they have zero desire to find out anything bad because they dont want to hurt them either. They willfully choose to look the other way.
We dont have to like but that's the way she goes. I have given up caring about recruiting in either sport because it's SO dirty and the leaders of the club dont care. So if they dont care I have two choices - advocate & financially support Michigan cheating or stop giving a shit about others cheating. I've chosen the latter.
December 10th, 2018 at 6:31 PM ^
December 10th, 2018 at 4:15 PM ^
College sports are a joke.
In the FBI probe nearly every blue blood was named; Duke, MSU, Kansas, Arizona, Louisville, UK and only Louisville gets killed... Every other team? Free to go about your business as usual. Now how is that ok? The season just started up like everybody forgot the damn whole sport was in crisis less than 12 months ago. Izzo looked like he was going to throw up at the end of last year. Now? Nothing to see here. Complete sham of a sport. Fix it or let's just close up any notion of of amateur athletics. I'm fine either way.
December 10th, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^
Louisville is not getting killed either. They just hired a great coach and have a great recruiting class coming in next year. They'll be back very soon.