Official 2010-2011 NCAA Basketball Thread

[Buehrle>Wood]

The ironic thing about the Pearl/Illinois deal is now Pearl is dealing with his cheating issue, and that story about the kid and the 200k from Kentucky the Sun Times reported is rumored to be sourced from Bruce Weber.

OK, Gregg Doyel

[nitetrain8601]

True about Doyel. He will blame anything on Illinois. Honestly though, NCAA should come down hard on Pearl. They won't though. Jimmy Collins should come out with regards to him and ask how this is getting little pub considering what Pearl did to the Illini program.

[Jenksismyhero]

True about Doyel. He will blame anything on Illinois. Honestly though, NCAA should come down hard on Pearl. They won't though. Jimmy Collins should come out with regards to him and ask how this is getting little pub considering what Pearl did to the Illini program.

 

Not sure that I agree with the lack of coverage. As a proud Illini-homer, I think he's been all over the news.

 

One thing for sure, if I were a Vols fan I'd be really questioning my school. The Kiffin mess, now Pearl? How's that AD keeping his job?

[Jenksismyhero]

Lol, speaking of cheating:

 

An elite eight trip to be voided from the record books?

 

I'm sure Calipari will be able to slime his way from this one too.

Edited September 15, 2010 by Jenksismybitch

[dasox24]

Not sure that I agree with the lack of coverage. As a proud Illini-homer, I think he's been all over the news.

 

One thing for sure, if I were a Vols fan I'd be really questioning my school. The Kiffin mess, now Pearl? How's that AD keeping his job?

Not sure, but he may not be for long... I feel like every Tennessee fan hates our AD.

[whitesoxfan99]

Looks like there is a decent chance Calipari might be vacating another season. I am sure this is yet another coincidence he had no knowledge about though. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/sports/n...ml?_r=3&hpw

[Brian]

Looks like there is a decent chance Calipari might be vacating another season. I am sure this is yet another coincidence he had no knowledge about though. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/sports/n...ml?_r=3&hpw

 

I like how it starts with Kentucky hiring him to win more championships. How many rings does Calipari have again? Right.

 

The next punishment for this douche should be a lifetime ban from college basketball. He has hurt anough programs. Bobby Knight is right about this jag.

[Rex Hudler]

True about Doyel. He will blame anything on Illinois. Honestly though, NCAA should come down hard on Pearl. They won't though. Jimmy Collins should come out with regards to him and ask how this is getting little pub considering what Pearl did to the Illini program.

 

 

I'm jumping in the middle here without a lot of knowledge. What is the NCAA accusing Pearl/Tennessee of right now? What have they done for them to come down hard? Do we have enough info at this point? I know he misled the NCAA, but I don't have a clue what the allegations are.

 

As far as Illinois, I know this won't be popular here, but Pearl did nothing to the Illini program. He made an accusation that couldn't be proven. That doesn't mean it wasn't true. But the NCAA decided to look around while the door was open. Illinois got busted for what they found then. If they weren't doing s***, there wouldn't have been a problem.

 

That's akin to a drug dealer blaming the cops for finding obvious laws being broken when serving a warrant for something else. Don't blame the cops because stuff was going on and they got inside.

[Balta1701]

I'm jumping in the middle here without a lot of knowledge. What is the NCAA accusing Pearl/Tennessee of right now? What have they done for them to come down hard? Do we have enough info at this point? I know he misled the NCAA, but I don't have a clue what the allegations are.

Bruce Pearl admitted that he lied to the NCAA in an interview with them earlier this summer, and that was enough for the university to come down hard once he admitted it.

 

Why did he admit he lied? Most likely, because he was about to be caught in a blatant lie, and the NCAA would crack the whip even harder if he didn't come forwards. Most of the original discussion talked about some vague violation of the rules regarding not calling up recruits too much, but that was never made specific. I think we got most of the real story yesterday.

A 2008 photo of a top recruit at Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl's home during an unofficial visit is a major component of the NCAA's investigation of the men's basketball program, according to two reports.

 

The picture of Aaron Craft, now a freshman at Ohio State, was taken at Pearl's home in fall 2008, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel and CBSSports.com.

 

Craft was a junior who had given the Volunteers a nonbinding commitment, but his presence at Pearl's house would constitute a violation of NCAA rules, which prohibit high school juniors from interacting with college coaches off-campus during an unofficial visit.

 

During an interview this past June, however, NCAA investigators questioned Pearl about the photo, and Pearl denied Craft had been to his home, according to the reports.

 

According to CBSSports.com, the NCAA already had a photo of Pearl and Craft taken in Pearl's home before any inquiry had taken place. The identity of the photographer and how the NCAA got ahold of the picture is unclear, according to the CBSSports.com report.

 

Pearl's assistant coaches also were asked about the photo and whether they knew the location, and they said they did not, according to the News Sentinel report.

 

 

...

Also at question are unofficial visits made in the same time period of fall 2008 by Jordan McRae, who enrolled at Tennessee, and Kansas freshman Josh Selby, who at the time had made a nonbinding commitment with the Volunteers, according to the News Sentinel. The newspaper reported that both players also were at Pearl's home during that unofficial visit.

[IlliniKrush]

Yeah, I'm not too worried. Bruce Pearl is the man regardless. Plus, you've got to be kidding yourself if you don't think cheating happens everywhere... even Illinois. He had too much contact with recruits - not the worst thing that could happen. At least he isn't paying players.

 

Also, I grew up a die-hard Illinois fan, but get over it. The Pearl/Illinois thing happened almost 20 years ago.

The man? Until he gets fired. Then he can go shirtless to the women's and men's games.

 

Too much contact with recruits, maybe not the worst thing that could happen. Lying to the NCAA? Pretty close.

[Jenksismyhero]

I'm jumping in the middle here without a lot of knowledge. What is the NCAA accusing Pearl/Tennessee of right now? What have they done for them to come down hard? Do we have enough info at this point? I know he misled the NCAA, but I don't have a clue what the allegations are.

 

As far as Illinois, I know this won't be popular here, but Pearl did nothing to the Illini program. He made an accusation that couldn't be proven. That doesn't mean it wasn't true. But the NCAA decided to look around while the door was open. Illinois got busted for what they found then. If they weren't doing s***, there wouldn't have been a problem.

 

That's akin to a drug dealer blaming the cops for finding obvious laws being broken when serving a warrant for something else. Don't blame the cops because stuff was going on and they got inside.

 

He made up s*** to get NCAA sniffing into the Illinois program, all because he lost out on Thomas. The result was the NCAA finding zero evidence of any wrongdoing with Thomas, but some other bulls*** violation that resulted in a one year ban, basically ruining the momentum the program was building right after the Flying Illini.

[He_Gawn]

He made up s*** to get NCAA sniffing into the Illinois program, all because he lost out on Thomas. The result was the NCAA finding zero evidence of any wrongdoing with Thomas, but some other bulls*** violation that resulted in a one year ban, basically ruining the momentum the program was building right after the Flying Illini.

 

Which is basically what Rex just said. You would have been fine if you were clean in the first place.

[bigruss]

Which is basically what Rex just said. You would have been fine if you were clean in the first place.

It was a violation on long distance phone calls I believe, which may be the weakest violation. Was it wrong, yes, but I would guess 95% of schools would have some sort of tiny violation like that and to be called out wrongly by some sleazeball for something Illinois obviously didnt do is wrong.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Which is basically what Rex just said. You would have been fine if you were clean in the first place.

They were minor violations bumped up to major violations since the Illinois athletic department was on probation.

 

Really though, it was Pearl who caused Illinois to be put on probation. The case was so public at the time that basically the NCAA needed something.

[RockRaines]

I'm just happy that the coach gets in trouble there and not the student. Aaron Craft is probably going to start for my buckeyes.

[dasox24]

I'm just happy that the coach gets in trouble there and not the student. Aaron Craft is probably going to start for my buckeyes.

Aaron Craft is a b**** for ratting us out. All sorts of illegal s*** happens in recruiting - it's part of the game. And when you decide to commit to a school (Tennessee) and then commit elsewhere later (Ohio St), you don't pile on the school you de-committed from by telling the NCAA about making an unapproved visit to the coach's house. That's some bulls***.

[RockRaines]

Aaron Craft is a b**** for ratting us out. All sorts of illegal s*** happens in recruiting - it's part of the game. And when you decide to commit to a school (Tennessee) and then commit elsewhere later (Ohio St), you don't pile on the school you de-committed from by telling the NCAA about making an unapproved visit to the coach's house. That's some bulls***.

Yeah, he probably should have lied for the good of the Tennessee program. LOL. Good thing he has better morals than Bruce Pearl and his staff.

 

A picture of former Tennessee recruit Aaron Craft at the home of coach Bruce Pearl represents a key cog in the NCAA's investigation into Pearl, his coaching staff and the Volunteers basketball program, according to a published report.

 

The photo of Craft, who originally verbally committed to Tennessee but later signed with Ohio State, was taken in the fall of 2008 according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. If true, Craft's presence at Pearl's home during an unofficial visit would represent a violation of NCAA rules, which prohibits involvement between coaches and players off-campus during such visits.

 

According to the News Sentinel, the NCAA questioned Pearl and his coaches on June 14 if they were aware when the photo was taken. The coaches denied knowledge, according to the report.

 

However, Pearl initiated a later meeting with the the NCAA Aug. 5, when he admitted when the photo was taken.

 

The admission fits the loose timeline provided during Friday's press conference, in which athletic director Mike Hamilton said Pearl initially mislead NCAA investigators in June, but came to him "three weeks later" to admit his actions.

Edited September 19, 2010 by RockRaines

[dasox24]

Yeah, he probably should have lied for the good of the Tennessee program. LOL. Good thing he has better morals than Bruce Pearl and his staff.

I never said he should lie to the NCAA. But do you know where the NCAA got the picture?

Edited September 19, 2010 by dasox24

[Balta1701]

I never said he should lie to the NCAA. But do you know where the NCAA got the picture?

No one's reported that yet. Nor does anyone seem to know who took the picture(s).

[dasox24]

No one's reported that yet. Nor does anyone seem to know who took the picture(s).

Exactly... word on Rivals is that Craft's dad and the UT coaching staff got into it over Craft's de-committment, and it was his dad's way of getting back at UT. If that's true, then Craft is a b**** and so is his dad.

[Chisoxfn]

Aaron Craft is a b**** for ratting us out. All sorts of illegal s*** happens in recruiting - it's part of the game. And when you decide to commit to a school (Tennessee) and then commit elsewhere later (Ohio St), you don't pile on the school you de-committed from by telling the NCAA about making an unapproved visit to the coach's house. That's some bulls***.

If illegal stuff is happeing, than it should get caught. Just because other schools do it doesn't mean it is ok for your school to have done it. And while the commit is probably a bit 2-faced it still wouldn't have ever been an issue had the program not been doing stuff wrong in the first place.

[RockRaines]

Exactly... word on Rivals is that Craft's dad and the UT coaching staff got into it over Craft's de-committment, and it was his dad's way of getting back at UT. If that's true, then Craft is a b**** and so is his dad.

You mean on Rival's UT message board. Of course they would want to blame someone else. Calling a kid a b****-ass for being truthful to investigators is pretty sketchy.....almost like something Bruce Pearl would do.

[dasox24]

You mean on Rival's UT message board. Of course they would want to blame someone else. Calling a kid a b****-ass for being truthful to investigators is pretty sketchy.....almost like something Bruce Pearl would do.

What do you not get about what I'm saying? For the 2nd time, I never said the kid should lie to the NCAA. But, what is "sketchy" is how the picture came out - no one on Tennessee's side took it. Therefore, it was Craft's picture and he (or his Dad) turned it into the NCAA. That's low. Just go to OSU and do your thing. Don't try to get another school in trouble.

 

He's like the tattle-tale everyone hates in grade school. It looks like he went out of his way to tell the NCAA about his illegal visit. Let's say the picture was some random person's and the NCAA discovered it somehow. Then, if the NCAA came to him and asked about the picture, I wouldn't expect him to lie. But that doesn't seem to be the case based on what we know right now.

[RockRaines]

What do you not get about what I'm saying? For the 2nd time, I never said the kid should lie to the NCAA. But, what is "sketchy" is how the picture came out - no one on Tennessee's side took it. Therefore, it was Craft's picture and he (or his Dad) turned it into the NCAA. That's low. Just go to OSU and do your thing. Don't try to get another school in trouble.

 

He's like the tattle-tale everyone hates in grade school. It looks like he went out of his way to tell the NCAA about his illegal visit. Let's say the picture was some random person's and the NCAA discovered it somehow. Then, if the NCAA came to him and asked about the picture, I wouldn't expect him to lie. But that doesn't seem to be the case based on what we know right now.

There were two kids in the picture and the NCAA got ahold of it. Could have been facebook, the internet anything. How do you know nobody from UT took it? They wouldnt admit it if they did. Does Craft have a reason to turn in UT because he decided to commit to another school? It makes zero sense. Just like calling a dad and a kid names on a message board with zero proof that they did anything other than be honest to investigators.

[CanOfCorn]

If illegal stuff is happeing, than it should get caught. Just because other schools do it doesn't mean it is ok for your school to have done it. And while the commit is probably a bit 2-faced it still wouldn't have ever been an issue had the program not been doing stuff wrong in the first place.

 

The problem is...it's so rampant that the NCAA can't keep up with it. Someone really needs to investigate the investigators...or a third party that CAN handle it, should handle it.