Proof is in the Pudding...Calipari Cheats

[Cheno]

I don't see anything here that directly involves Calipari at this point. Of course, when the NCAA starts investigating a program, they can sometimes uncover more wrongdoing than was first suspected. Time will tell.

Exactly.

 

[DFWHoopster]

Rose's AAU coach basically admits having no influence over Rose once the money was involved. I seriously doubt that he is talking about $2200. The smoke around Calipari has been that he uses World Wide Wes and very large forgiveable loans to entice these elite players to play for him.

It started with DeJuan Wagner. If there is substance to this type of activity and the NCAA has the motivation to uncover it (which I doubt), then this could get ugly. Gary Parrish at cbssportsline seems to despise Cal. He and other reporters can keep fueling this fire until the truth is revealed.

 

[Seymore Cox]

Exactly.

I don't know if Cal cheats and really don't care. It seems as if he's a guy who might work the gray areas. The only thing that bothers me is that he doesn't have a standard of kids that he won't go after, especially if the kid is a tremendous basketball player. If you look at Lance Stepenson and John Wall, there were some coaches that wouldn't go after them because of not wanting to deal with their handlers or didn't want to deal with them academically.

 

[DenverSooner]

yal are funny, you're telling me you wouldn't take Calipari as coach if Capel left?? i'd almost guarantee everyone would have taken cousins, wall, bledsoe, orton and others if Capel jumped to zona or elsewhere.

I wouldn't want Calipari. He has been in trouble at Umass and now Memphis. I prefer Capel or another young guy. OU has done just fine hiring relatively unknown coaches like Billy Tubbs, Kelvin Sampon and Jeff Capel.

 

[AdaSooner]

Probably the first of more to come. Especially if ESPN gets involved. Andy Katz and Pat Forde have hard on for Calipari and will go after him hard.

Forde is already doing that in the audio portion of this report.

But, putting all of that aside, it stands to reason that the person who was ultimately responsible for the program at Memphis will be a primary focus of this investigation. These violations occurred on his watch. I think it's also reasonable to assume that when the stinky hits the fan, Calipari may not pass the smell test.

 

[OUguy11]

I wouldn't want Calipari. He has been in trouble at Umass and now Memphis. I prefer Capel or another young guy. OU has done just fine hiring relatively unknown coaches like Billy Tubbs, Kelvin Sampon and Jeff Capel.

Correction, he has wasn't in trouble at Umass, Camby got in trouble for taking money from an agent. Cal had nothing to do with it. No punishment directed towards him whatsoever.

 

[Seymore Cox]

Correction, he has wasn't in trouble at Umass, Camby got in trouble for taking money from an agent. Cal had nothing to do with it. No punishment directed towards him whatsoever.

Bob Stoops had nothing to do with Bomar and Quinn excepting money, but he did have to take some responsibility. Now I understand a coach can't be big brother, but let's not be naive. Coaches know who players are dealing with all the time. Do you think Calhoun didn't know that Miles and Majok were dealing with an agent?

 

[Seymore Cox]

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that one of Derrick Rose’s former Chicago Simeon teammates may have taken his SAT for him.

‘‘ [The NCAA] thinks that [former Simeon player Kevin Johnson] took [the SAT test] for him,” Luther Topps, who coached Rose’s club basketball team with Derrick’s brother Reggie, told the newspaper.

Topps said he and Simeon coach Robert Smith don’t know anything firsthand.

‘‘[Smith and I] didn’t know anything about his test,’’ Topps said. ‘‘Reggie moved me and him out of the way long before that, as soon as the money got involved.’’

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Wednesday that the NCAA is investigating major violations at Memphis during the 2007-08 season, Rose’s only year at the school. Rose just finished his first season in the NBA with the Bulls. The player’s name is redacted throughout the NCAA letter, which you can read here.

The Commercial Appeal reported that the individual involved denied the charge through university personnel.

If the allegations are proven true, Memphis could forfeit its 38 wins and Final Four appearance from that season, marking the second time John Calipari would have had to do that. His 1996 Final Four with UMass was also forfeited.

Memphis head coach Josh Pastner and the current team reportedly face no repercussions, but you have to wonder how these charges might impact recruiting. Will potential recruits shy away from Memphis given what has happened? Will Memphis be extra cautious when dealing with, say, Lance Stephenson, who has his own baggage to deal with?

If this is the case, I have to take back the prior post. Unless Calipari arranged the test taking, which seems to be not likely, then it's hard to put this on him. Past precedents have been to have the kid retake it when their is a suspicion of doubt. So I think this falls on the NCAA compliance committee, who is probably trying to get ahead of the story. I don't think this is as worse as what Kevin Rogers and Darrell Arthur did. I think the NCAA, Baylor, and Kansas dropped the ball on that.

 

[MsProudSooner]

‘‘[Smith and I] didn’t know anything about his test,’’ Topps said. ‘‘Reggie moved me and him out of the way long before that, as soon as the money got involved.’’

When did money get involved and where did it come from?

 

[152219]

The NCAA letter also alleges that Memphis provided $2,260 in free travel to road games for an associate of a player, specifically riding the team plane and not reimbursing the school for hotel stays. The NCAA is charging Memphis with a failure to monitor in that instance.

I've read the letter and this is in there. So, Cal didn't know about a player's handler on the plane and at the team hotel? Come on.

 

[OUguy11]

I've read the letter and this is in there. So, Cal didn't know about a player's handler on the plane and at the team hotel? Come on.

It's not that he knew they were there, they are allowed to travel, but its the fact that they didn't reimburse the school which made it illegal. Hence the failure to monitor. Please read.

 

[152219]

It's not that he knew they were there, they are allowed to travel, but its the fact that they didn't reimburse the school which made it illegal. Hence the failure to monitor. Please read.

I understand that....but do you honestly think he was asked to reimburse?

 

[sdcloud9]

I know this is off the subject but in the 1980's OU had signed a baseball player that did not take the ACT (another student took the test for him, and passed making the kid eligible).

When OU found out, they made the player ineligible and he later left school.

I know for a fact that OU did not know about the testing switch.

I don't doubt that Calipari is dirty but he may not have known about Rose's testing switch.

 

[OUguy11]

I understand that....but do you honestly think he was asked to reimburse?

I would almost guarantee he was, any university with a half decent compliance department would catch it.

 

[Cheno]

Bob Stoops had nothing to do with Bomar and Quinn excepting money, but he did have to take some responsibility. Now I understand a coach can't be big brother, but let's not be naive. Coaches know who players are dealing with all the time. Do you think Calhoun didn't know that Miles and Majok were dealing with an agent?

I totally agree but that doesn't make Calipari a big cheater like this thread is implying. Is Stoops a big cheater? I don't think so.

 

[MsProudSooner]

I totally agree but that doesn't make Calipari a big cheater like this thread is implying. Is Stoops a big cheater? I don't think so.

The thing with Calipari is that he has been gotten a program on probation before. I'm still curious about the money mentioned in the article.