NCAA investigating Kentucky for alleged player-agent agreements
John Wall at Kentucky
I’m all for the concept of “innocent until proven guilty,” but I doubt few people were surprised to hear about the latest potential scandal involving Kentucky basketball.
According to sources cited by gossip site TMZ (so take it with a grain of salt), the NCAA is taking an “aggressive look” at UK’s program, and specifically into the possible involvement of four players with pro agents. Two of the unnamed players were apparently 2010 NBA draft picks — UK had John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Patrick Patterson and Daniel Orton drafted — and two are still in the program. The source says the players may have had pre-arranged agreements with the agents before they ever suited up for the Wildcats.
Again, the fact that TMZ is the only known source for this has to be taken into consideration. But if this goes all the way and some Kentucky players are deemed ineligible for the ’09-10 season, the program could have to forfeit wins, and it would be another mark on John Calipari‘s legacy and reputation, whether it was his fault or not. Calipari has already coached teams at UMass and Memphis that were punished by the NCAA, although in those cases he was not implicated for any wrongdoing.
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July 2nd, 2010 at 3:47 pm
cearism says:
First Blood!
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July 2nd, 2010 at 4:05 pm
bsteezy3 says:
No shocker here. It’s what the NCAA is now…
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Joe's Momma says:
What?! Coach Cal with a possible violation, who on earth would have ever thought of that happening (again)?
How does this guy still have a job? He screwed plenty of teams already. Even in the NBA (wtf, picking Kerry Kittles over Kobe)
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Joe's Momma says:
Expect more of this if the NBA wants to force kids to go to college. These boys are groomed to be NBA players from the moment they show they are better than the 99.9% of players when the are kids.
They don’t dream of winning national champs, they dream of making it to the NBA.
You can go to war at after high school, but you gotta wait if you wanna play pro ball in the states. bunch of bull shit
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:38 pm
drizzlerulz says:
This is not a suprise. Cal wont stop doing his thing until someone makes him stop. As for Cal not knowing about this crap going on, how may times can you get away with that? The NBA just needs to let kids come in after high scool OR if they go to college they must stay 3 years(or 2 or whatever) because 1 and done is a joke. It is the best balance for the NBA and college. Either way the kid should be allowed to maximize his potential.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:00 pm
M Dot 214 says:
Again: Calipari TURNED IN Marcus Camby at U Mass.
Derrick Rose had issues in high school , not at Memphis.
Calipari didn’t violate anything.
And according to the Sporting news, which is way more reputable than TMZ:
http://www.sportingnews.com/college-basketball/article/2010-07-02/kentucky-hasnt-been-informed-basketball-investigation
C’mon guys – y’all are usually on it better than this.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Ninja cool says:
This truly is shocking. How could you even accuse Calipari of having a legacy?
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:06 pm
Dave says:
“aggressive look”? Was the TMZ article written by a 5th grader with a thesaurus? Is that an official aggressive look? Has the standard “aggressive look” document been filed and approved?
This is all BS brought up by a Louisville fan. It will blow over until the next holiday weekend when someone will make up some other story.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Rick says:
Coach cal is shocked – shocked! – that such a thing might have gone on with one of his players.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:51 pm
M Dot 214 says:
Louisville fans are still mad about Marquis Teague and the other blue chips recruits Louisville got beat out for.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:04 pm
J says:
@ Joe’s Momma
I don’t think it was his fault they picked Kittles over Kobe. Not many high schoolers jump college at the time, and even then the time it would take to groom them would take alot of commitment to invest in a teenager. Its not like Kobe was by far the better player back then, sure the upside etc is there, but the overall exp the player gained through their career made them the player they are now.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Ed Moncrief says:
Take it with a grain of salt says it all.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:45 pm
Wheatgerm says:
“Calipari has already had teams he coached at UMass and Memphis punished by the NCAA, even if in those cases he was not implicated for any wrongdoing.”
What double-talk! If Cal wasn’t implicated for any wrongdoing, how do you reckon it was Calipari who had these teams punished?
This is a common phrasing that sportwriters use to insinuate something that the facts do not support. This is innuendo. The NCAA explicitly cleared Calipari in both cases. The punishments came because – prepare yourself for a shocker – sometimes the fault lies with the player, not with the coach. Why is that so difficult to understand?
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Mark Liptak says:
I’ve been in the sports media myself for 32 years now and I’m sickened by what it has become.
If you accuse an individual or a program of wrong doing shown the damn proof.
Don’t stand behind “unnamned sources”, don’t speculate. Give everyone your information, name names, name your souces (so that the public can see if the people whistle-blowing has something to gain or a vendetta)and let the chips fall where they may.
I wouldn’t hold my breath on that happening however…actual investigation would take work. It’s so much easier to speculate, use third hand sources, unnamed sources or innuendo. And it appeals to the lowest common denominator…exactly the same folks who watch or listen to TMZ.
And if true the possibility of this being published by someone from Louisville speaks volumes. It’s been shall we say, a rough year for Pitino’s program…and his court case hasn’t even started yet with Karen Sypher.
Mark Liptak
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Uncommon Sense says:
TMZ is NOT a journalistic organization. I guarantee there is no source at the NCAA, no source at UK, and no source with direct connections to the players or the agents implicated. TMZ did, however, get the one thing that this story was published to provide…hits on their pathetic website. C’mon folks, TMZ is the new National Inquirer. It’s embarrasing that you even picked this up and ran with it. Other than, of course, to get hits for your website…
July 3rd, 2010 at 7:24 pm
e says:
daniel orton got drafted with 3 pints and 3 rebounds per game and sherron collins goes undrafted SMH
July 4th, 2010 at 2:02 am
brad says:
Ok tmz was right on usc. They were first to report about it. They were first on big ben story but I ain’t buying this one. Agressively looking doesn’t sound like investigation. Pitino is probably the source in an attempt to not look like a psycho again over sypher.
July 6th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Eric says:
I wish someone would take a closer look at how some of the boosters and so called recruiters or people connected to the program through websites(ex..truebluekentucky.com) are actually going around acting like they are connected to the university and interviewing and giving false hopes to these kids while in the 9th, 10th ,11th and 12th grade, giving them their first taste of so called FAME.They are actually recruiting them right under the NCAA’s noses and no one does anything about it.
July 22nd, 2010 at 2:30 pm
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Thanks for piecing this together – this is a great article for those of us with our heads buried in the keyboard all day.