The wonderful world of college athletic recruiting
Ed. note: Thanks to ESPN.com Page 2's "Sports Guy," Bill Simmons, for bringing this to the attention of the world.
The Miami Herald has started a monthlong, weekly feature chronicling the recruiting visits of all-state high school linebacker Willie Williams, Florida's top football prospect.
This stuff is straight out of the hilariously bad Anthony Michael Hall flick, Johnny Be Good. Rather than spoil it for you, I simply encourage you to read the stories for yourself, in order, of Williams' visits to Florida State, Auburn and Miami.
Bear in mind that it is all perfectly legal (apparently) for universities to lavish such luxuries on would-be student athletes. FSU, Auburn and Miami can fly top high school athletes on private jets, put them up in extravagant suites and stuff them full of expensive food at upscale restaurants.
However, once those players become scholarship athletes, that all goes out the door. A coach can occasionally have players over for good eats at his or her house, but beyond that, it's absurd.
Utah mens basketball coach, jolly fat man and all-around good guy Rick Majerus (who sadly appears to have coached his final game after being hospitalized for heart problems on Tuesday) has been dinged previously for violating some of the more ludicrous NCAA rules. Some of Majerus' infractions, as enumerated by Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly:
• Unashamedly purchasing a dinner in 1994 for his player Keith Van Horn at a Salt Lake City deli. At 3 a.m., no less! So what if Van Horn's father had died that night? Or that Majerus was the one who had to tell him? Or that Van Horn wanted Majerus to stay with him until his 8 a.m. flight home? This ain't Dr. Phil!
"I guess I should've reached over as he was getting on the plane and said, 'Hey, you owe me $9.90 for the ham and eggs,'" Majerus says.
Do you see? Do you see the attitude?
• Brazenly buying a bagel for a player. Who cares if the player was upset about his brother's recent suicide attempt and had come to Majerus to talk? "I could've talked to the kid in my office, I guess," Majerus says. "But if you go get a bagel, it kind of relaxes a kid. It's not coach-player anymore. It's two guys talkin'."
Bah! It's one guy cheating, and, in truth, Majerus got lucky. The report never states what kind of bagel Majerus bought the kid. For instance, an "everything" bagel is a considerably larger offense in the eyes of the NCAA. And don't even get me started on the ramifications of lox.
Twice -- twice! -- allowing assistants to buy groceries for players who didn't have enough money to eat: $20-$30 for a player whose meal plan hadn't begun yet and $20 for a prospect who hadn't yet received his scholarship. "I just felt sorry for those guys," Majerus says. "Maybe because I was that kid once, you know? No money, no friends, and you haven't eaten for two days."
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Majerus also happens to have produced more Academic All-Americans (four) in the past five years than any other Division I coach. Granted, the NCAA didn't exactly slap Utah with major sanctions, but it just demonstrates the insanity of it all.
The Miami Herald has started a monthlong, weekly feature chronicling the recruiting visits of all-state high school linebacker Willie Williams, Florida's top football prospect.
This stuff is straight out of the hilariously bad Anthony Michael Hall flick, Johnny Be Good. Rather than spoil it for you, I simply encourage you to read the stories for yourself, in order, of Williams' visits to Florida State, Auburn and Miami.
Bear in mind that it is all perfectly legal (apparently) for universities to lavish such luxuries on would-be student athletes. FSU, Auburn and Miami can fly top high school athletes on private jets, put them up in extravagant suites and stuff them full of expensive food at upscale restaurants.
However, once those players become scholarship athletes, that all goes out the door. A coach can occasionally have players over for good eats at his or her house, but beyond that, it's absurd.
Utah mens basketball coach, jolly fat man and all-around good guy Rick Majerus (who sadly appears to have coached his final game after being hospitalized for heart problems on Tuesday) has been dinged previously for violating some of the more ludicrous NCAA rules. Some of Majerus' infractions, as enumerated by Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly:
• Unashamedly purchasing a dinner in 1994 for his player Keith Van Horn at a Salt Lake City deli. At 3 a.m., no less! So what if Van Horn's father had died that night? Or that Majerus was the one who had to tell him? Or that Van Horn wanted Majerus to stay with him until his 8 a.m. flight home? This ain't Dr. Phil!
"I guess I should've reached over as he was getting on the plane and said, 'Hey, you owe me $9.90 for the ham and eggs,'" Majerus says.
Do you see? Do you see the attitude?
• Brazenly buying a bagel for a player. Who cares if the player was upset about his brother's recent suicide attempt and had come to Majerus to talk? "I could've talked to the kid in my office, I guess," Majerus says. "But if you go get a bagel, it kind of relaxes a kid. It's not coach-player anymore. It's two guys talkin'."
Bah! It's one guy cheating, and, in truth, Majerus got lucky. The report never states what kind of bagel Majerus bought the kid. For instance, an "everything" bagel is a considerably larger offense in the eyes of the NCAA. And don't even get me started on the ramifications of lox.
Twice -- twice! -- allowing assistants to buy groceries for players who didn't have enough money to eat: $20-$30 for a player whose meal plan hadn't begun yet and $20 for a prospect who hadn't yet received his scholarship. "I just felt sorry for those guys," Majerus says. "Maybe because I was that kid once, you know? No money, no friends, and you haven't eaten for two days."
===
Majerus also happens to have produced more Academic All-Americans (four) in the past five years than any other Division I coach. Granted, the NCAA didn't exactly slap Utah with major sanctions, but it just demonstrates the insanity of it all.
posted by Alexander Dubcek | 13:32
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