Plain Trouble on "Da Plains" (all AU posts here)

https://twitter.com/abc/status/https://twitter.com/OldTakesExposed/status/913106357812854784

I think the situation will run deeper with Auburn Basketball before it is over. I wont say who he was or where I was employed at the time, but I had a personal encounter with a then current basketball player at my previous job. After displaying a large sum of cash he went into one of our offices and had a speakerphone conversation with someone. He openly spoke about receiving money from an agent and heat being on him. He also told the person on the phone that Pearl was aware of the situation and they had spoken about it. He was suspended indefinitely shortly after and left the team. I won't call his name but you can look at last years roster and figure it out.

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AUDub said:

Of course not, and at the moment neither should anyone else. Every major program should be on pins and needles.

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Not necessarily. Anthony Grant would have little to do with AAU BB. It was a complaint by many that he would not play ball, thus he did not recruit as well as many thought he should. If he were still at Bama I would have almost zero apprehension. Avery does play ball with them. Does that mean he or his staff cheats, not necessarily, but it opens up the possibility. I.e., I would not be shocked but a little surprised if Bama was involved. If Mark Gottfried or Wimp were here I would be surprised if Bama was not involved. Btw, I've always felt that CBB was by far the most corrupt sport, one player can change the entire trajectory of a program. But I do believe there are relatively clean programs. I think there is a decent chance Bama is one of them, 3 years ago I would have felt there was a great chance.

I don't think the notion that Pearl was not aware of this situation will fly. Logic tells you that Chuck Person in Auburn ,Alabama is not going to contact a financial advisor in New York out of the blue without someone pointing him his direction. Who at Auburn has a history of signing players from New York? Hmm. There are more questions than answers at this point, but if Auburn really wants to correct things, they need to clean the athletic dept house completely starting with Pat Dye. The culture there for years has been "if you can't prove it, we didn't do it".

BamaInBham said:

Not necessarily. Anthony Grant would have little to do with AAU BB.

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In all fairness he might not consider Alabama a major program, heh.

sanjosecrimson said:

reading their boards on this latest fiasco, one doesn't need to look very long to see the hateful bunch known as auburn fans quickly deflect from their doomed athletic shenanigans by pointing out that Alabama football is more corrupt than anything that goes on in their lovely institution of higher learning.

they are predictable as the rising sun.

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http://scout.com/college/auburn/Boa...ns-NCAA-fraud-hotline-asks-for-tips-108043652

right on cue. they never miss an opportunity, do they??

KrAzY3 said:

In all fairness he might not consider Alabama a major program, heh.

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If we are comparing, there's a bit of a gulf between our programs with y'all obviously being the more consistent and storied of the two.

In truth, I wouldn't consider either of us major programs.

sanjosecrimson said:

http://scout.com/college/auburn/Boa...ns-NCAA-fraud-hotline-asks-for-tips-108043652

right on cue. they never miss an opportunity, do they??

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You're reading ITAT. It would be surprising if they weren't blaming our problems on the REC.

I don't know the details of this so I may be wrong, but this looks to me like a huge failure and embarrassment by the NCAA. Am i wrong?

Rama Jama said:

I don't think the notion that Pearl was not aware of this situation will fly. Logic tells you that Chuck Person in Auburn ,Alabama is not going to contact a financial advisor in New York out of the blue without someone pointing him his direction. Who at Auburn has a history of signing players from New York? Hmm. There are more questions than answers at this point, but if Auburn really wants to correct things, they need to clean the athletic dept house completely starting with Pat Dye. The culture there for years has been "if you can't prove it, we didn't do it".

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That someone was Michel, the guy with the suit store in Atlanta. Read what the DOJ released. It's all there.

BamaInBham said:

Not necessarily. Anthony Grant would have little to do with AAU BB. It was a complaint by many that he would not play ball, thus he did not recruit as well as many thought he should. If he were still at Bama I would have almost zero apprehension. Avery does play ball with them. Does that mean he or his staff cheats, not necessarily, but it opens up the possibility. I.e., I would not be shocked but a little surprised if Bama was involved. If Mark Gottfried or Wimp were here I would be surprised if Bama was not involved. Btw, I've always felt that CBB was by far the most corrupt sport, one player can change the entire trajectory of a program. But I do believe there are relatively clean programs. I think there is a decent chance Bama is one of them, 3 years ago I would have felt there was a great chance.

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I knew Grant didn't play ball with the AAU. Someone mentioned it yesterday in the BB thread.

Makes Grant look pretty smart in hindsight.

Could both major programs in Kentucky be getting looked at by the FBI? If Nike is being looked at could the flagship Wildcats be next?


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AUDub said:

That someone was Michel, the guy with the suit store in Atlanta. Read what the DOJ released. It's all there.

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So we are to believe that a guy selling suits in Atlanta hooked up with the financial advisor in New York and put the deal together. Chuck person was essentially entrapped and an innocent victim. BTW, AU has already hired Lightfoot, Franklin again. Gee, I wonder how much of our tax dollars go to this firm to defend AU athletics.

BadgerTidefan said:

I don't know the details of this so I may be wrong, but this looks to me like a huge failure and embarrassment by the NCAA. Am i wrong?

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The interesting thing is the FBI and the NCAA seem to have completely different priorities and approaches.

In the past, NCAA lead investigations have in order of biggest to least concern gone after:
Schools
Players
Coaches
Agents
Shoe Companies

The AAU scene has been dirty for a while, people knew the shoe companies and agents have been doing shady things for a while. But, in part because it's just out of the NCAA's jurisdiction, and also I think because the NCAA legitimately didn't seem to care that much. It was like they didn't care who was paying the players or why, just that they got paid and that was the problem. You'd think a more proactive NCAA could have done more to keep agents and shoe companies at arms length. Then if you look at what the FBI is doing, they basically flipped that list. They're calling the school and players victims, while going after shoe companies, agents and coaches.

I still wonder how the NCAA will handle this. This is nothing like what they are capable of doing, or what they seem to try to do either.

BadgerTidefan said:

I don't know the details of this so I may be wrong, but this looks to me like a huge failure and embarrassment by the NCAA. Am i wrong?

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Yes, you're wrong. Read about how all this came about. The NCAA doesn't have subpoena power and the investigation started with something that the NCAA would never have knowledge of..

If you haven't watched the 30 for 30
"Sole Man", you should check it out.
Sonny Vaccaro is the original shoe pimp

crimsonaudio said:

If Nike is dirty, I guarantee you KY is. Heck, they have Calipari as their head coach - need I say more?

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Wonder if the FBI takes a trip down Tobacco Road after they play Bluegrass? This could lay waste to the division one basketball landscape potentially.


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Rama Jama said:

So we are to believe that a guy selling suits in Atlanta hooked up with the financial advisor in New York and put the deal together.

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The DOJ had an informant relaying this info to them. This was the "financial advisor" in question. Read the report. It's all there.

And this wasn't just any old guy selling suits. He had been a ref in college and the pros, and his store has furnished outfits for some high profile athletes. Fournette and Deshaun Watson being two of them. This guy was in deep.

Rama Jama said:

Chuck person was essentially entrapped and an innocent victim.

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Hardly. They may have given him the rope, but he hung himself with it.

Rama Jama said:

BTW, AU has already hired Lightfoot, Franklin again. Gee, I wonder how much of our tax dollars go to this firm to defend AU athletics.

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An independent investigation is absolutely necessary in a situation like this.