| | The NCAA's half-season suspension of Missouri freshman Kareem Rush for
accepting extra benefits as a 15-year old AAU player sets a dangerous
precedent for the NCAA, high school and AAU basketball, and the majority of
elite college basketball players.
|  | | Missouri's Kareem Rush is suspended -- for now. |
If the NCAA maintains this harsh a stand against Rush (Missouri is appealing the NCAA ruling which was handed down on Tuesday),
it must look at the entire sport and, in the end, could suspend a number of
high-profile players for the same reasons.
Extra benefits in high school and AAU summer basketball are as common as the
Nike and Adidas sneakers the players wear on a daily basis. How do you think
players in Alaska and West Virginia get to California for a tournament? Who
do you think is paying for high school teams playing in Honolulu right now? Do you
think they had bake sales and car washes?
"Based on this ruling, they should shut down college basketball for
half the season," said a notable youth basketball organizer, who requested
that his name not be used. "This might be the most dangerous decision the
NCAA has ever made. No one ever told these kids that taking meal money from
an AAU coach would effect their college eligibility. The punishment doesn't
fit the crime. I don't know where it says that if high school kids take
money from an AAU coach they're inelgibile."
Rush admitted accepting extra benefits while playing for an AAU team
coached by Myron Piggie in Kansas City prior to enrolling at Missouri. The
benefits, nothing more than a few basketball-related gifts (sneakers, gear,
etc.) and travel expenses, came to light during an ongoing federal
investigation into Piggie for alleged tax evasion.
Federal authorities passed on the information to Missouri, which had an
obligation, according to the NCAA, to suspend Rush, declare him ineligible
and seek his reinstatement (the allegations against Rush's older brother
JaRon at UCLA involve accepting money from an agent -- a clear
NCAA violation).
But singling out Rush and the few others that played for Piggie (Oklahoma
State's Andre Williams is still suspended for the same reason) doesn't wash
away the problem.
"The majority of players at a high level get extra benefits," said Sonny
Vaccarro, director of Adidas' summer basketball. "This is absurd. The NCAA
has no jurisdiction. Go to the Las Vegas tournament and there are 250 teams
with their parents there. Every kid is there somehow. It's not illegal."
Sources have told ESPN.com that the NCAA wants to tackle the issue and rid
the sport of the professionalism that goes on before players get to college.
The problem is how.
One source told ESPN.com that it's not practical and would be impossible to take it on across the board. In the Rush case, the
NCAA is using the FBI and IRS to get information on players like Rush.
The federal authorities are expected to review their findings with the NCAA
next Wednesday.
Sources at UCLA say the school has been irked that it found out
about JaRon Rush's activity in an unsolicited conversation with federal
authorities. But NCAA spokesperson Wally Renfro said schools have an
obligation to act on any information they receive, regardless of where it
comes from and how it's delivered.
Suspending Kareem Rush sends a message. The larger statement is coming out
in a new book, entitled, "Sole Influence," in which co-authors Dan Wetzel
and Don Yaeger expose what they charge is corruption by Nike and Adidas in AAU and
high school basketball.
"Until a kid gets suspended, they couldn't put a face on this crime," said
Wetzel, who is also managing editor of Basketball Times. "Everyone said this
was a bad system but didn't show why. But we were able to show Marvin Stone
(now at Kentucky) getting a car to go to high school. We showed that in
places like Huntsville, Ala., and Kansas City, that things like this happen.
"A pandora's box has been opened," Wetzel adds. "The colleges are addicted
to the shoe money and they've allowed the AAU and high school culture to be
professionalized. You can't have shoe companies throwing a collective eight
million (dollars) into a pot of amateur basketball and not let it get to the players.
If the (NCAA) wants to say playing on these high-level teams makes you a
professional athlete, then they'll have a Final Four with Yale, Howard, Sac
State and Texas-Arlington."
Wetzel agreed with Vaccaro and said: "If Kareem Rush's level of
guilt earns him half a year suspension, then 75 percent of the country should, too. Obviously they can't do that but something has to be done if they want
to get serious about it."
Shutting the summer down isn't the answer. Plenty of schools need
summer recruiting to find players who aren't on high-profile teams. Getting
rid of the extra benefits in high school wouldn't be answered by changing
the summer calendar. How does that limit the trips like Compton's Dominguez
High to Hawaii this week?
"What we show in Sole Influence is the shoe companies have created a
level of opportunity to make it extremely profitable for guys like Joel
Hopkins (at Mt. Zion Christian in Durham, N.C.) to make $150,000 a year
because he coached Tracy McGrady for one season," Wetzel said. "Nike legitimized Myron Piggie by giving him money to get players. There's no surprise that he ended up selling complimentary shoes. He's a hustler. There are thousands of guys like Myron Piggie. It's the system that creates the Myron Piggies."
If the NCAA continues looking into extra benefits, plenty of
high-profile, top-25 teams could be without players.
"It's going to continue, there's no way it can't," Wetzel said.
"The NCAA isn't going to lower the threshold of the crime. This system is
way, way out of control and will effect every level of basketball."
Pennant fever
Xavier-Cincinnati was on television in Stanford's locker room after
the Cardinal had disposed Sacramento State rather easily Saturday night.
The locker room was clearing out quickly, until someone noticed the score.
Xavier was ahead late in the game.
Bags were put down, chairs pulled up and all eyes were glued to the
set. A Cincinnati loss meant No. 2 Stanford would be No. 1 in the nation.
The honor was deserved for a team that was undefeated and had beaten Duke
and Iowa in New York, Auburn in Anaheim, Calif., and Georgia Tech in Atlanta. But
being No. 1 was a shocking development for a team that lost five seniors and
had played all but one game this season without its supposedly best player --
senior forward Mark Madsen.
"My heart was beating so fast and I was jumping up and down like
those Xavier students," Stanford's Curtis Borchardt said. "Our whole team was."
Except junior point guard Mike McDonald. He couldn't watch or maybe
didn't want to see his team caught up in being No. 1 rather than playing for
the honor.
"When Cincinnati got down four, I left because I knew we had to deal
with Mississippi State," said McDonald, acting as if Stanford coach Mike Montgomery
had scripted the answer.
"Everyone expected us to run Mississippi State off the floor, but
few knew they were 7-2," McDonald said of Tuesday's eventual win over the
Bulldogs in the Pete Newell Challenge in Oakland. "We felt a bit of pressure
being No. 1."
Montgomery wanted the ranking to be under his tree for Christmas.
With the next poll not due until Sunday, he was guaranteed to have it.
"But we knew all the eyes would be on us," Borchardt said. "We came
out a bit slow and gave up some shots we shouldn't have. But we won."
The Cardinal beat the Bulldogs with their defense and rebounding,
the same way they've taken out every other opponent. Stanford isn't shooting
the ball exceptionally well and that could curtail the Cardinal when they
meet Arizona in the Pac-10, let alone a march to the Final
Four.
"Shooting 37 percent isn't going to get it done in the (NCAA) Tournament,"
McDonald said. "Right now it's early to say we're competing for the national
title, at least until we get our offensive execution down."
But the much maligned backcourt of McDonald, Julius Barnes, Ryan
Mendez, Casey Jacobsen and David Moseley (remember Kris Weems and Arthur Lee
were supposed to be irreplaceable) has been just as consistent as Stanford's vaunted frontcourt. Borchardt and the Collins brothers -- Jason and Jarron --
have been given extra time to mesh while Madsen nurses a hamstring injury.
Madsen could have played against Mississippi State but Montgomery wanted to
hold him out for another week.
With Madsen back, how much better is Stanford? Madsen's passing
ability in the post, his energy and finishing moves close to the basket will
give the Cardinal a dimension they've missed offensively.
"When he comes back, we've got our heart and soul back," McDonald
said. "He'll do his Mad-Dog act, score points and be the X factor. It's a
heck of an X factor to have sitting out."
Weekly chatter
If Arizona wins the Pac-10, credit the starting five. The
Wildcats' bench was reduced by one this week when coach Lute Olson announced
that reserve guard Lamont Frazier will sit out the season and seek a medical
redshirt for an undisclosed condition. Frazier was averaging 10.9 minutes of
reserve guard time, although he was benched for last Saturday's game against
Nebraska because of poor academic behavior.
His departure leaves the
Wildcats with only one backup guard -- walk-on John Ash. The bench was
already thin after the depature of Ruben Douglas last month. Douglas
announced he would transfer and settled on New Mexico this week (he'll be
eligible in December 2000).
The Wildcat bench could be thinner up front, too, if center Robertas
Javtokas decides to leave school. He took a self-prescribed leave of absence last
week and didn't play in the Nebraska game. He returned to practice prior to
the New Mexico loss Tuesday, but his status remains in limbo.
In addition, forward Justin
Wessel is nursing a concussion, suffered in the Nebraska game. When Wessel
returns, he'll join undersized forwards Luke Walton
and Rick Anderson on the bench. The only other reserve is Josh Pastner, a
senior walk-on and pseudo assistant coach who just earned his degree in
three-and-a half years.
Arizona's numbers crunch may not matter with a starting five that
can match any in the country. The
backcourt of freshmen Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas, sophomore forwards
Richard Jefferson and Michael Wright and junior center Loren Woods can
withstand playing 30-plus minutes -- even close to 40 -- if they don't get into
foul trouble.
Arizona's latest loss to New Mexico -- for the second
consecutive season but only the second time in 12 games against the Lobos in
Tucson -- had no effect on the fact that the series is ending between the two bordering state
universities. Olson had already made up his mind that he wouldn't continue
the four-year series after former center and Albuquerque native A.J.
Bramlett finished his career in '99. The Wildcats are committed to playing
Purdue, Michigan State, LSU and Texas on the 2000-01 schedule.
Wednesday, New Mexico awoke to the surprising news that sophomore point guard John Robinson II has decided to transfer. Robinson said playing time was the issue. He started 30 of 34 games under Dave Bliss last season. But Fran Fraschilla has gone with Lamont Long at point and freshman Marlon Parmer more often than Robinson. Robinson started only two of 11 games, averaging 16.1 minutes versus 34.4 a year ago. He averaged 10.2 points last season to four this season.
Robinson could end up at Houston (his hometown), Nebraska, Oklahoma or Texas. But Robinson has also had conversations with Arizona State. He would be eligible in December 2000.
San Jose State left for the Pearl Harbor Classic without
Cory Powell. The heralded junior college transfer still hasn't made it
academically. The Spartans are hoping he can join the team for the WAC.
UNLV is expecting scoring guard Lou Kelly to
be in uniform against Eastern Kentucky Dec. 28. Meanwhile, reports out of
Las Vegas say that the NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting
violations involving former recruit Lamar Odom (who signed at UNLV) are nearing a
conclusion. A report could be issued by the end of the regular season.
George Washington is expecting Attila Cosby to transfer in from New Mexico this month. Cosby transferred from Pittsburgh to New Mexico, but he says that personal issues have forced him to return closer to the mid-Atlantic.
Anyone who wanted to see Saul Smith replaced by Keith Bogans in
Kentucky's starting lineup didn't understand their respective positions.
Bogans isn't a point guard like Smith. When Kentucky coach Tubby Smith,
Saul's father, put Bogans in the starting lineup against Louisville, he sat
forward Jules Camara. It worked as the Wildcats routed the Cardinals with
the additional scoring pop from Bogans.
Camara wasn't pleased with the demotion but can't complain if the Wildcats can start clicking better
offensively. The bigger lineup experiment failed. The smaller, quicker, more
productive lineup worked as Desmond Allison got out of a shooting slump,
Tayshaun Prince scored well on the perimeter and Jamaal Magloire focused on
his four-feet-and-in game for a double-double.
Camara isn't transferring just because he was demoted.
Neither is Illinois' Sergio McClain. But he thought about it in this era of
transferring when everything doesn't go a player's way.
McClain, who was a starter last season, has had his time cut to a
few token minutes this season. It's not because of newcomers Frank Williams,
Marcus Griffin or Brian Cook. McClain doesn't play their positions. Instead,
McClain was simply beat out by sophomore Lucas Johnson (55.6 on 3s) and
senior Cleotis Brown (9.3 ppg). McClain, averaging 4.7 points, broached the
subject of leaving -- if only for one conversation -- with assistant Robert
McCullum. But McClain's father insisted that he needs to be more patient. It
hasn't helped that McClain has been slowed by a knee injury.
Meanwhile, Cook's heavily monitored minutes aren't because of his
offense. The Illini recognize how agile and productive the McDonald's
all-American center can be in the post. But Cook never played man-to-man
defense in high school. Until he gets the defense down (where he needs to be
on every possession and situation), Robert Archibald will continue to get
more time. Illinois has a luxury that most schools don't. The Illini have
depth up front that allows them to bring Cook (5.8 poings, 55.6 percent
overall, 50 percent on 3s in 13.8 minutes a game) long slowly. Archibald has
also benefited from Illinois' summer trip to Australia. Incoming freshmen
aren't allowed to go on a foreign trip with their team.
Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said senior center Jeremy Hays
will receive a medical redshirt after he suffered a season-ending knee
injury last month. The erratic Tide are starting four freshmen and a
sophomore (JC transfer Schea Cotton) in Hays' absence.
Andy Katz's Weekly Word on college basketball runs every Thursday during the season.
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