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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/sports/ncaabasketball/27hoops.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
The New York Times
July 27, 2009
College Coaches Pay to Find Out Who's on the Court
By PETE THAMEL
LAS VEGAS — After driving three hours to watch a basketball recruit play a game at a tournament in Memphis earlier this month, Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings turned around minutes later and went home.
Just after sitting down with some fellow college coaches, two tournament employees told Stallings that he had to pay $295 for a packet of rosters and information that doubled as an admission fee for college coaches. The coaches in attendance told him that they had been required to do the same thing.
Stallings said he had paid a $10 admission fee and did not want or need the packet, so he hit the road out of principle.
Ryan Luttrell, the tournament organizer, denied trying to force Stallings to buy the packet. But Stallings said he would not cut a deal with Luttrell and left because it would not be fair to the other coaches.
“I’m not protesting or insisting that my moral compass is better than anyone else,” Stallings said. “But mine won’t allow me to do something like that that is that blatantly wrong.”
Tournament organizers and summer basketball coaches have long charged significant fees for packets of information about potential Division I recruits — player rosters, phone numbers and e-mail addresses — that are the lifeblood of the billion-dollar college basketball business.
But with the economy sagging, college recruiting budgets being slashed and tournaments in the April recruiting period being eliminated because of an N.C.A.A. rule change, the costs and the complaints have risen sharply this summer.
Coaches have been especially irate at tournaments where the packet is a mandatory part of admission, in some cases making it cost hundreds of dollars to watch one game. They point to the N.C.A.A., which approves all the tournaments coaches can attend, as an enabler.
Not all packet purchases double as admission costs. But this week in Las Vegas, where five tournaments featured thousands of players, the packet costs ranged from $180 to $275, with cash being preferred.
A black market of bootleg packets and copies of receipts flourished so freely that tournament directors policed copy centers to prevent coaches from making duplicates. At numerous events this summer, coaches have changed out of their university-logoed shirts to watch games disguised as fans to save hundreds of dollars.
“It’s a crazy racket,” said Yale Coach James Jones, who once paid $350 to watch one player play a single game in South Carolina. His other option was to buy the tournament organizer Jeff Schneider’s $600 recruiting service.
“It’s extortion,” Jones said.
Stallings’s experience offers a window into the complicated subculture of recruiting. The Memphis tournament, called the River City Showdown, was put on in part by a local Amateur Athletic Union program, the Memphis Magic. Stallings said Luttrell, one of the tournament’s organizers, told him that part of the $295 was going to help ship the Memphis Magic A.A.U. team around the country to play in other tournaments.
Many college coaches pay the fees because they do not want to alienate the teams’ coaches, who often control the recruiting of their players.
Luttrell denied the tournament was a direct fund-raiser for the Memphis Magic but said he was hired to put on the tournament by Eric Robinson, who runs the Memphis Magic program.
Stallings said that college coaches directly supporting a summer basketball program in which prospects are playing is, “by definition,” a violation of N.C.A.A. rules. “If I’m knowingly giving you money, I’m not allowed to do that,” Stallings said. “It’s really an indirect funneling of money to summer programs, which again is not what the institutions should be doing.”
While not all tournaments have direct financial relationships with summer basketball teams, most coaches are keeping their thoughts to themselves. While many coaches agreed that the cost of tournament packets was egregious, few spoke on the record. Those who declined included the Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, the U.C.L.A. Coach Ben Howland and the Ohio State Coach Thad Matta. “It’s one of the important things on our agenda,” said Michigan Coach John Beilein, the head of the N.C.A.A.’s new Ethics Coalition. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo refused to pay $100 for admission to the Summer Jam tournament in Milwaukee earlier this month after one of his assistants had already paid $250 for the packet that doubled as an entry fee. Izzo said the tournament director should visit him if he had a problem.
Antonio Curro, the tournament director, defended his prices, saying that he provided food for the tournament coaches and that he needed to feed his family. Curro also cited the costs of gym rental, employees and referees. He said that three coaches sneaked into the gym to avoid paying the $250 and that he made them purchase the packet because bootlegs were so prevalent.
“Everything we did was legitimate by the N.C.A.A.,” he said. “There is no rule for anyone setting the price.”
The N.C.A.A. spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said, “It is misleading for event organizers to state that the N.C.A.A. allows them to charge elevated prices.”
While Izzo confirmed the story about the Milwaukee tournament, he declined further comment. His silence and the hesitancy of other prominent coaches to speak underscores the importance of their relationships with summer basketball programs.
“That’s exactly what’s wrong with our business,” Stallings said. “There’s a mentality where coaches want to cover themselves and not get out there and say what’s right and call out the people that are wrong.
“That’s precisely why things are the way they are. That’s why we have culture issues in our game. It’s a darn shame. The people who could have influence and do have a voice, they choose not to use it because it doesn’t help them. They don’t want anything unsettling their smooth little boat ride.”
Traditionally strong programs rarely need the expensive packets. Universities like North Carolina, Texas and Connecticut rarely recruit more than a dozen players, so they’re already familiar with them.
At the other end of the spectrum, Texas-Pan American Coach Ryan Marks, whose recruiting budget is $25,000, needs the packets to identify and reach out to undiscovered players. “We could spend a fifth of our recruiting budget on packets in July alone,” he said.
While the packets usually cost hundreds of dollars, they rarely have pertinent information, like players’ jersey numbers.
“I refuse to pay $250 for a blank piece of paper,” the Louisville assistant Steve Masiello said.
Still, the packets and the issues surrounding them have become an accepted part of the recruiting process.
“The N.C.A.A. should get involved,” Jones said. “These events have to be sanctioned. They need to have these guys validate some of the things they’re doing.”
The New York Times
July 27, 2009
College Coaches Pay to Find Out Who's on the Court
By PETE THAMEL
LAS VEGAS — After driving three hours to watch a basketball recruit play a game at a tournament in Memphis earlier this month, Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings turned around minutes later and went home.
Just after sitting down with some fellow college coaches, two tournament employees told Stallings that he had to pay $295 for a packet of rosters and information that doubled as an admission fee for college coaches. The coaches in attendance told him that they had been required to do the same thing.
Stallings said he had paid a $10 admission fee and did not want or need the packet, so he hit the road out of principle.
Ryan Luttrell, the tournament organizer, denied trying to force Stallings to buy the packet. But Stallings said he would not cut a deal with Luttrell and left because it would not be fair to the other coaches.
“I’m not protesting or insisting that my moral compass is better than anyone else,” Stallings said. “But mine won’t allow me to do something like that that is that blatantly wrong.”
Tournament organizers and summer basketball coaches have long charged significant fees for packets of information about potential Division I recruits — player rosters, phone numbers and e-mail addresses — that are the lifeblood of the billion-dollar college basketball business.
But with the economy sagging, college recruiting budgets being slashed and tournaments in the April recruiting period being eliminated because of an N.C.A.A. rule change, the costs and the complaints have risen sharply this summer.
Coaches have been especially irate at tournaments where the packet is a mandatory part of admission, in some cases making it cost hundreds of dollars to watch one game. They point to the N.C.A.A., which approves all the tournaments coaches can attend, as an enabler.
Not all packet purchases double as admission costs. But this week in Las Vegas, where five tournaments featured thousands of players, the packet costs ranged from $180 to $275, with cash being preferred.
A black market of bootleg packets and copies of receipts flourished so freely that tournament directors policed copy centers to prevent coaches from making duplicates. At numerous events this summer, coaches have changed out of their university-logoed shirts to watch games disguised as fans to save hundreds of dollars.
“It’s a crazy racket,” said Yale Coach James Jones, who once paid $350 to watch one player play a single game in South Carolina. His other option was to buy the tournament organizer Jeff Schneider’s $600 recruiting service.
“It’s extortion,” Jones said.
Stallings’s experience offers a window into the complicated subculture of recruiting. The Memphis tournament, called the River City Showdown, was put on in part by a local Amateur Athletic Union program, the Memphis Magic. Stallings said Luttrell, one of the tournament’s organizers, told him that part of the $295 was going to help ship the Memphis Magic A.A.U. team around the country to play in other tournaments.
Many college coaches pay the fees because they do not want to alienate the teams’ coaches, who often control the recruiting of their players.
Luttrell denied the tournament was a direct fund-raiser for the Memphis Magic but said he was hired to put on the tournament by Eric Robinson, who runs the Memphis Magic program.
Stallings said that college coaches directly supporting a summer basketball program in which prospects are playing is, “by definition,” a violation of N.C.A.A. rules. “If I’m knowingly giving you money, I’m not allowed to do that,” Stallings said. “It’s really an indirect funneling of money to summer programs, which again is not what the institutions should be doing.”
While not all tournaments have direct financial relationships with summer basketball teams, most coaches are keeping their thoughts to themselves. While many coaches agreed that the cost of tournament packets was egregious, few spoke on the record. Those who declined included the Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, the U.C.L.A. Coach Ben Howland and the Ohio State Coach Thad Matta. “It’s one of the important things on our agenda,” said Michigan Coach John Beilein, the head of the N.C.A.A.’s new Ethics Coalition. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo refused to pay $100 for admission to the Summer Jam tournament in Milwaukee earlier this month after one of his assistants had already paid $250 for the packet that doubled as an entry fee. Izzo said the tournament director should visit him if he had a problem.
Antonio Curro, the tournament director, defended his prices, saying that he provided food for the tournament coaches and that he needed to feed his family. Curro also cited the costs of gym rental, employees and referees. He said that three coaches sneaked into the gym to avoid paying the $250 and that he made them purchase the packet because bootlegs were so prevalent.
“Everything we did was legitimate by the N.C.A.A.,” he said. “There is no rule for anyone setting the price.”
The N.C.A.A. spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said, “It is misleading for event organizers to state that the N.C.A.A. allows them to charge elevated prices.”
While Izzo confirmed the story about the Milwaukee tournament, he declined further comment. His silence and the hesitancy of other prominent coaches to speak underscores the importance of their relationships with summer basketball programs.
“That’s exactly what’s wrong with our business,” Stallings said. “There’s a mentality where coaches want to cover themselves and not get out there and say what’s right and call out the people that are wrong.
“That’s precisely why things are the way they are. That’s why we have culture issues in our game. It’s a darn shame. The people who could have influence and do have a voice, they choose not to use it because it doesn’t help them. They don’t want anything unsettling their smooth little boat ride.”
Traditionally strong programs rarely need the expensive packets. Universities like North Carolina, Texas and Connecticut rarely recruit more than a dozen players, so they’re already familiar with them.
At the other end of the spectrum, Texas-Pan American Coach Ryan Marks, whose recruiting budget is $25,000, needs the packets to identify and reach out to undiscovered players. “We could spend a fifth of our recruiting budget on packets in July alone,” he said.
While the packets usually cost hundreds of dollars, they rarely have pertinent information, like players’ jersey numbers.
“I refuse to pay $250 for a blank piece of paper,” the Louisville assistant Steve Masiello said.
Still, the packets and the issues surrounding them have become an accepted part of the recruiting process.
“The N.C.A.A. should get involved,” Jones said. “These events have to be sanctioned. They need to have these guys validate some of the things they’re doing.”
