FBI and DOJ Announce Corruption Charges in College Basketball

[Rocker Ute]

All the excuses now coming out around this are eerily similar to all the doping scandals in cycling. You are going to start hearing things so implausible it seems crazy enough to be true. Disgraced US cyclists Tyler Hamilton tried to claim he was a chimera (basically a twin absorbing another twin in the womb and having two blood types); Floyd Landon tried to claim that a post ride beer increased his testosterone to banned levels and (apparently) made it synthetic; Lance Armstrong proponents claimed that cancer treatment and survival actually made his red blood cells go UP after heavy exertion; and, disgraced Spanish rider Alberto Contador that somebody feed him tainted beef that had a banned substance (and also somehow put plasticizers found on IV bags in his blood).

I could go on for days about the silly types of excuses that come out at this level of corruption and the fans willingness to believe. I fully expect to hear Sean Miller claim he was talking about the candy bar, not $100 grand in actual cash.


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[LA Ute]

https://twitter.com/BrucePascoe/stat...61611227463681

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Here’s the Greg Hansen piece. It hits hard:

Greg Hansen: Sean Miller cannot be allowed to coach the Wildcats again

http://tucson.com/sports/arizonawild...ign=user-share

[LA Ute]

The Arizona fan board is interesting, and kinda entertaining:

http://beardownwildcats.com/viewtopi...=59&start=4400

[concerned]

On college game day, Jay billis just said that this is career ending. Said Miller will never coach in college again. And bilis has been a big defender of Miller up till now. Will be interesting to see what happens to Arizona financially, if they have to honor Miller's contract in the event he is fired for cause. That's a lot of money to pay out when you have to fund the rest of your athletic department, and the payee has disgraced you. Arizona may not recover for a long long time

[LA Ute]

On college game day, Jay billis just said that this is career ending. Said Miller will never coach in college again. And bilis has been a big defender of Miller up till now. Will be interesting to see what happens to Arizona financially, if they have to honor Miller's contract in the event he is fired for cause. That's a lot of money to pay out when you have to fund the rest of your athletic department, and the payee has disgraced you. Arizona may not recover for a long long time

I must admit that after my encounters with Arizona fans attending games at the Huntsman, I’m experiencing a bit of schadenfreude.

[sancho]

I must admit that after my encounters with Arizona fans attending games at the Huntsman, I’m experiencing a bit of schadenfreude.

But Utah is on the list. Until that is cleared up, we don't really have much moral high ground. I hope/expect that Larry will be cleared, but right now, we are on a naughty list. Of course, the Miller news was great because it dwarfed the earlier news.

[sancho]

Arizona may not recover for a long long time

That would be great. Could be a window of opportunity for us, especially with a strong class coming in. Of course, Zona could be just fine. They are a strong program.

[concerned]

Until last night, I did not know that they had served a search warrant on Sean Miller's home, and taken his computers and records. You would think that somebody down there was waiting for the hammer to drop

[redastheycome]

Beat me to the punch. I, too, hope that Larry will be cleared. And it is darkly fun to watch the squirming of the genuine AZholes (as opposed to the cool UofA fans of which there are surely many). But we aren't totally out of the proverbial woods.

> I can't be the only one a little hacked off at Kuzma right now. It looks like he was, at the very least, willing to take a loan at some point, even if it turns out no $$ ever changed hands. Even if Kyle's family/Larry/everyone else had nothing to do with it, it's a problem. True, there is huge disparity in severity between what Kuzma (maybe? probably?) did and the fiasco in Tuscon. Yes, the NCAA amateur rules are problematic at best, downright ridiculous at worst, and put athletes in a situation where a morally neutral act such as taking a loan can run afoul of the rules. But said rules are currently in effect, like it or not. And Kuzma's alleged violation of them may bring consequences that will largely be borne by people not named Kuzma.

> Larry had better have been telling the truth when he went off on that rant back in the fall. It would be one thing if he employed the see/hear-no-evil approach that would have allowed him to maintain plausible deniability in the event one of his players did something questionable. But since Larry claimed, loudly and publicly, that his program does everything by the book (which I liked at the time and still hope is borne out), ambiguous outcomes seem unlikely. Either he's totally exonerated and is poised to be one of the white knights that takes advantage of whatever environment emerges from all this, or he's exposed as a brazen liar even if the scope of wrongdoing turns out to be small in comparison with other programs. Oh, and he singled out Kuzma as a positive example to boot (even if the rest of the rant was true, have to think he'd like to have that part back).

[NorthwestUteFan]

Isn't Arizona also paying out Rich Rodriguez' contract?

Also, did Sean Miller ever take AZ beyond the Sweet 16 or Elite 8? It would be a shame to never go very deep without much tourney success, after all that expensive cheating...

[Mormon Red Death]

I must admit that after my encounters with Arizona fans attending games at the Huntsman, I’m experiencing a bit of schadenfreude.

Go to Vegas and your schadenfreude of the azholes will more delighting

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[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Isn't Arizona also paying out Rich Rodriguez' contract?

Also, did Sean Miller ever take AZ beyond the Sweet 16 or Elite 8? It would be a shame to never go very deep without much tourney success, after all that expensive cheating...

So, somehow Miller’s contract states that his payout is $5M higher if he gets fired WITH cause than if he gets fired WITHOUT cause. Brilliant strategy, Sean.




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[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Beat me to the punch. I, too, hope that Larry will be cleared. And it is darkly fun to watch the squirming of the genuine AZholes (as opposed to the cool UofA fans of which there are surely many). But we aren't totally out of the proverbial woods.

> I can't be the only one a little hacked off at Kuzma right now. It looks like he was, at the very least, willing to take a loan at some point, even if it turns out no $$ ever changed hands. Even if Kyle's family/Larry/everyone else had nothing to do with it, it's a problem. True, there is huge disparity in severity between what Kuzma (maybe? probably?) did and the fiasco in Tuscon. Yes, the NCAA amateur rules are problematic at best, downright ridiculous at worst, and put athletes in a situation where a morally neutral act such as taking a loan can run afoul of the rules. But said rules are currently in effect, like it or not. And Kuzma's alleged violation of them may bring consequences that will largely be borne by people not named Kuzma.

> Larry had better have been telling the truth when he went off on that rant back in the fall. It would be one thing if he employed the see/hear-no-evil approach that would have allowed him to maintain plausible deniability in the event one of his players did something questionable. But since Larry claimed, loudly and publicly, that his program does everything by the book (which I liked at the time and still hope is borne out), ambiguous outcomes seem unlikely. Either he's totally exonerated and is poised to be one of the white knights that takes advantage of whatever environment emerges from all this, or he's exposed as a brazen liar even if the scope of wrongdoing turns out to be small in comparison with other programs. Oh, and he singled out Kuzma as a positive example to boot (even if the rest of the rant was true, have to think he'd like to have that part back).

But if Metu is on that same ledger and USC has no problem playing him this afternoon, maybe It that list isn’t so naughty.


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[NorthwestUteFan]

> I can't be the only one a little hacked off at Kuzma right now. It looks like he was, at the very least, willing to take a loan at some point, even if it turns out no $$ ever changed hands. Even if Kyle's family/Larry/everyone else had nothing to do with it, it's a problem. True, there is huge disparity in severity between what Kuzma (maybe? probably?) did and the fiasco in Tuscon. Yes, the NCAA amateur rules are problematic at best, downright ridiculous at worst, and put athletes in a situation where a morally neutral act such as taking a loan can run afoul of the rules. But said rules are currently in effect, like it or not. And Kuzma's alleged violation of them may bring consequences that will largely be borne by people not named Kuzma.

I recognize the situation scholarship athletes are in and have empathy for them. Sure, their tuition and housing is paid for, and they can eat at the cafeteria. But if they need more money or want to send money to family they are stuck. Some kids send part of their stipend money home to help out.

But they can't get a job during a semester in which they play, so fall and spring semester are both out. They can't get a bank loan without a job or collateral, and iirc there are some restrictions against getting student loans when on full scholarship. Tough situation for a 19-20 yr old player who is watching his family struggling, despite being worth millions to his school.

So Agent Moneybags comes around and offers a loan, on terms the player can afford, and without a paper trail, it would seem to be a lifeline and would be difficult to turn down.

On a similar note, I once sold a car to a friend's college-aged daughter and I carried the note since she didn't have a credit history. Along the way I had to let her skip some payments, and let her work off other payments by babysitting. But had she been an athlete I wonder if that could have been some sort of improper benefit that would have got her in trouble with ncaa compliance?

[Old Standing ute]

The Arizona fan board is interesting, and kinda entertaining:

http://beardownwildcats.com/viewtopi...=59&start=4400

Beyond entertaining---shows that fans can really be blind or stupid. Several said Miller knew he was on tape & was a mole for the FBI trying to land bigger fish--LOL.

And or everyone does this so it is not wrong---incredible logic that many criminals also use.

& they won't take down the Dukies, but will get AZ as they are not big enough-----slapping themselves in the face.

Their fans are obnoxious----which included my deceased mother---RIP--who loved Lute Olsen.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

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[Mormon Red Death]

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Bear down and drop a bag of cash

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[Dwight Schr-Ute]

I wonder if checks are getting cancelled. Although, I doubt that O’Neal is in need of any such payments.




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[SoCalPat]

Uncomfortable question that has to be asked: How do we view Hanno Mattolla going forward if we find out he was aware of payments to Lauri Markannen?

[LA Ute]

Uncomfortable question that has to be asked: How do we view Hanno Mattolla going forward if we find out he was aware of payments to Lauri Markannen?

Not well, IMO.

[Solon]

Not well, IMO.

Don’t worry, folks.
Miller is confident that he will be vindicated.

https://mobile.twitter.com/JonRothst...7Ctwgr%5Etweet

[concerned]

Uncomfortable question that has to be asked: How do we view Hanno Mattolla going forward if we find out he was aware of payments to Lauri Markannen?

Maybe he got paid too.

[sancho]

Uncomfortable question that has to be asked: How do we view Hanno Mattolla going forward if we find out he was aware of payments to Lauri Markannen?

What would we want Hanno to do if he was aware of payments to Lauri? Tell the press? Does Hanno have a paper trail?

We are all aware of payments to Yurtseven, but we can't really do anything about it.

[Old Standing ute]

What would we want Hanno to do if he was aware or payments to Lauri? Tell the press? Does Hanno have a paper trail?

We are all aware of payments to Yurtseven, but we can't really do anything about it.

Agreed. what can he do---I guess tell Larry K he is screwed unless he starts cheating too, which Larry already knows.

[concerned]

Has anybody seen an answer to this question: why did Miller not get indicted with the asst coach and everybody else in Sept. or so? They had him on tape; they must have had him for wire fraud or conspiracy. Was there no evidence tying him to an actual payment?

Also curious as to why it leaked now.

[LA Ute]

Has anybody seen an answer to this question: why did Miller not get indicted with the asst coach and everybody else in Sept. or so? They had him on tape; they must have had him for wire fraud or conspiracy. Was there no evidence tying him to an actual payment?

Also curious as to why it leaked now.

The first possibility that comes to
my mind is that that are working up from the small fish to the big ones. We shouldn’t be surprised to see the hammer drop pretty soon.

(The foregoing is pure speculation.)


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[concerned]

The first possibility that comes to
my mind is that that are working up from the small fish to the big ones. We shouldn’t be surprised to see the hammer drop pretty soon.

(The foregoing is pure speculation.)


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The other thing that just occurred to me is that they got the asst for taking money for himself from the agent. Maybe they dont (or didnt then) have any evidence that Ayton actually got money, all they have is Miller talking about how to do it.

I suspect they are trying to get the asst to flip on Miller, and he hasnt done it yet.

[Old Standing ute]

I thought the NCAA held the head coach responsible for his assist.?
Especially an assist who has worked for the head coach for so many years, so he can't claim it was a newer assist that they did not have a deep relationship.

[concerned]

I thought the NCAA held the head coach responsible for his assist.?
Especially an assist who has worked for the head coach for so many years, so he can't claim it was a newer assist that they did not have a deep relationship.

Maybe it is not the same if the assistant is doing a side deal for his own benefit behind the back the program. Is not acting on behalf of the program necessarily. I think that was Miller's contention in October

[Diehard Ute]

Maybe it is not the same if the assistant is doing a side deal for his own benefit behind the back the program. Is not acting on behalf of the program necessarily. I think that was Miller's contention in October

If cookies and milk are lack of institutional control, so is discussing 6 figure payoffs to land a recruit


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