Sources: College hoops corruption case poised to take down top College BB Teams

[dirk digler]

https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-college-hoops-corruption-case-poised-take-hall-fame-coaches-top-programs-lottery-picks-224417174.html

Sources: College hoops corruption case poised to take down Hall of Fame coaches, top programs, lottery picks

NEW YORK – It has been five months since the FBI arrested 10 men in a sweeping federal probe into the underbelly of the basketball world. As the three ongoing criminal cases resulting from the investigation plod along, it’s increasingly unlikely there will be another wave of double-digit arrests.

More legal charges still could come, but what’s becoming increasingly clear as the discovery portion of the case comes to a close is that the breadth of potential NCAA rules violations uncovered is wide enough to fundamentally and indelibly alter the sport of college basketball.

The soundtrack to the three federal basketball corruption cases is essentially a ticking time bomb, which will inevitably explode. It will impact every major conference, Hall of Fame coaches, a score of current top players and some of the nation’s most distinguished and respected programs.

Multiple sources who’ve been briefed on the case and are familiar with the material obtained by feds told Yahoo Sports that the impact on the sport will be substantial and relentless. Sitting under protective order right now are the fruits of 330 days of monitoring activity by the feds, which one assistant US Attorney noted Thursday was “a voluminous amount of material.” That includes wiretaps from 4,000 intercepted calls and thousands of documents and bank records obtained from raids and confiscated computers, including those from notorious NBA agent Andy Miller.

“This goes a lot deeper in college basketball than four corrupt assistant coaches,” said a source who has been briefed on the details of the case. “When this all comes out, Hall of Fame coaches should be scared, lottery picks won’t be eligible to play and almost half of the 16 teams the NCAA showed on its initial NCAA tournament show this weekend should worry about their appearance being vacated.”

There’s a general expectation that this information will be released. It could come in trial, pre-trial motions or released by the government at some point. (No one is certain if they’ve agreed to eventually give it to the NCAA if it doesn’t go public.)

So how bad could be it? In terms of NCAA rules, multiple sources told Yahoo Sports that the material obtained threatens the fundamental structure and integrity of the sport, as there’s potentially as many 50 college basketball programs that could end up compromised in some way.
Among the documents expected to be in the federal government’s protection are the bank records of Miller, who bankrolled middle man, Christian Dawkins, who is at the center of two of the cases.

“If the NCAA is going to get Andy Miller’s bank records, God bless them, I don’t know what they’re going to do,” said another source with direct knowledge of the situation, chuckling at the thought. “You are better off changing the rules. The crazy part of this business is none of the kids are free.”

NCAA officials are staring at the prospect of a tournament with a winner that will likely be vacating its title – and many others eventually vacating their appearances. There’s a lingering mushroom cloud over the sport’s upcoming showcase event that won’t go away. The most fascinating and tricky variable here is time.

There’s a protective order on the evidence found in discovery in all three cases. Whether the information gets out in dribs and drabs or released at once, the consequences are expected to be severe.

The government is not compelled to release the information, according to Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York who now teaches at Columbia Law School. “Sometimes never,” he said when asked generally about the timing of the release of information under protective order. He added: “The main sources of release will be in the course of pretrial motions and trial, and/or as related investigations go overt.”

[saphojunkie]

Here's a solution - you are allowed to pay walk-ons, but you can only have three.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Nah. KU doesn't need to pay players. Mississippi State needs to pay players. Alabama needs to pay players. But it is always possible the shoe company paid players, without KU's direct knowledge. I can't really fault the school if that happens. That is between the player and the shoe company. Shoe company's fault.

That's a nice fantasy. Thamel's sources tell him this involves elite programs paying to get players and stay at the top.

If Duke and UNC and Kentucky are paying to get players, so is ku.

All these guys get paid. I actually don't have a problem with it. Just don't pretend ku is above the fray.

You don't get ***** or Top 100 players unless you're kicking something to the families.

[jaa1025]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

I love the blue-collar, hard workin' white man mentality. Deny people the right to fair compensation, and if they have a problem with it, go work in another country!

I would love to see one of you F350 driving assholes get told that to your face. No pay for you. Go work in Slovakia for a year, and come back then.

It's not about the fair compensation, it's about how they are denied the right to work that exists in virtually every other non-vice related profession.

Racist.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

That's a nice fantasy. Thamel's sources tell him this involves elite programs paying to get players and stay at the top.

If Duke and UNC and Kentucky are paying to get players, so is ku.

All these guys get paid. I actually don't have a problem with it. Just don't pretend ku is above the fray.

You don't get ***** or Top 100 players unless you're kicking something to the families.

Exactly

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

Just like all the Kansas fans dreading every refresh.

What am I dreading?

They probably cheat like other schools, that's not news.

Am I supposed to dread "vacated" wins? I watched them, and I can assure you they'll still exist.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

It's like the steroid era. Everyone does it. They just pick and choose who gets busted. It's bullshit.

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

I love the blue-collar, hard workin' white man mentality. Deny people the right to fair compensation, and if they have a problem with it, go work in another country!

I would love to see one of you F350 driving assholes get told that to your face. No pay for you. Go work in Slovakia for a year, and come back then.

It's not about the fair compensation, it's about how they are denied the right to work that exists in virtually every other non-vice related profession.

This is such ****ing bullshit. The vast majority of players are fairly compensated. What percentage of NCAA college athletes are ever going to make it in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL? Full ride scholarship athletes are given a scholarship that covers tuition, room and board, and some meals. That scholarship is worth tens of thousands of dollars a year. If they take advantage of this scholarship and get a degree in something different useful, it can provide for them and their familiy for the rest of their lives.

[007]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

Paying the players is a stupid idea. They get a scholarship that is worth tens of thousands of dollars per year and the opportunity to get a free education. If that isn’t enough compensation and the player isn’t interested in an education, they are free to go overseas and play basketball until they are eligible for the NBA draft.

If they do start paying the players like they are employees of the university, that’s fine as long as they treat them like employees in every way. The players earn a salary and then they pay taxes on that earned income. They pay for their room and board, their meals, and their insurance premiums. Their tuition and books are still free, but they pay taxes on the value like a regular salaried employee would a bonus.

Plus they get fired after 4 years.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

This is such ****ing bullshit. The vast majority of players are fairly compensated. What percentage of NCAA college athletes are ever going to make it in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL? Full ride scholarship athletes are given a scholarship that covers tuition, room and board, and some meals. That scholarship is worth tens of thousands of dollars a year. If they take advantage of this scholarship and get a degree in something different useful, it can provide for them and their familiy for the rest of their lives.

Only two of the sports you mentioned give full scholarships (football and basketball).

And yes, those players do receive a tremendous range of benefits. They also generate BILLIONS of dollars in revenue for their athletic departments and the NCAA while going to school and working a full-time job (and a manual labor type job, at that. How many people could work a full-time construction or roofing job and carry a full class load and thrive?)

The system makes it illegal for them to have part time jobs (which is necessary, otherwise you'd have the Roger Morningstars and Bill Lauries of the world setting guys up with "jobs" that pay six figures for "summer work."). Many of the players comes from abject poverty... this leaves them without cash in their pocket to buy a pizza or take someone on a date to a movie or buy a pair of shoes. That's why under-the-table cash is so prevalent and sought out.

The additional stipends schools pay out now definitely are a step in the right direction... they reduce the dependency on booster cash. If those went a tad bit further, even better.

It's also worth noting that many of the players are pushed through degree mill programs so their eligibility will be maintained, education and future prospects be damned.

They do receive tremendous benefits. But there are also still some cracks to examine.

College football and basketball players at power 5 programs subsidize a lot of people (the entire NCAA office, coaches making millions, every athletic program that isn't football or men's basketball, every program outside a major conference, etc.) They deserve a little bit more of the pie they're baking.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

That's a nice fantasy. Thamel's sources tell him this involves elite programs paying to get players and stay at the top.

If Duke and UNC and Kentucky are paying to get players, so is ku.

All these guys get paid. I actually don't have a problem with it. Just don't pretend ku is above the fray.

You don't get ***** or Top 100 players unless you're kicking something to the families.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

I love the blue-collar, hard workin' white man mentality. Deny people the right to fair compensation, and if they have a problem with it, go work in another country!

I would love to see one of you F350 driving assholes get told that to your face. No pay for you. Go work in Slovakia for a year, and come back then.

It's not about the fair compensation, it's about how they are denied the right to work that exists in virtually every other non-vice related profession.

What's a full ride, all expenses paid, at a power basketball school worth?

[ChiTown]

I wish K-State went back to paying players like we did with Martin/Huggins. If Weber is paying his players right now, he’s getting robbed. Well, maybe he sent Dean Wade’s parents some dairy cattle, but that’s about it....

[Pasta Little Brioni]

College hoops is easy. Open up the pocket book and you instantly turn the program around.

[threebag]

Good thing the Shockers are clean

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Only two of the sports you mentioned give full scholarships (football and basketball).

And yes, those players do receive a tremendous range of benefits. They also generate BILLIONS of dollars in revenue for their athletic departments and the NCAA while going to school and working a full-time job (and a manual labor type job, at that. How many people could work a full-time construction or roofing job and carry a full class load and thrive?)

The system makes it illegal for them to have part time jobs (which is necessary, otherwise you'd have the Roger Morningstars and Bill Lauries of the world setting guys up with "jobs" that pay six figures for "summer work."). Many of the players comes from abject poverty... this leaves them without cash in their pocket to buy a pizza or take someone on a date to a movie or buy a pair of shoes. That's why under-the-table cash is so prevalent and sought out.

The additional stipends schools pay out now definitely are a step in the right direction... they reduce the dependency on booster cash. If those went a tad bit further, even better.

It's also worth noting that many of the players are pushed through degree mill programs so their eligibility will be maintained, education and future prospects be damned.

They do receive tremendous benefits. But there are also still some cracks to examine.

College football and basketball players at power 5 programs subsidize a lot of people (the entire NCAA office, coaches making millions, every athletic program that isn't football or men's basketball, every program outside a major conference, etc.) They deserve a little bit more of the pie they're baking.

Full-time job my ass. There isn’t a Division 1 athlete in the country who is “working” on their sport 10-12 hours per day like most construction workers and roofers in your dumb ass analogy.

The degree mill argument is dumb ass well. If the athlete isn’t smart enough or willing to work hard enough to advance towards a legitimate degree, they have options besides playing college athletics. Life isn’t fair and it isn’t easy. If you want something bad enough, you’ll put in the work to achieve it.