NCAA should take some of the blame for Arizona’s infractions
by Javier Morales on Jul. 30, 2010, under Sports
Former UA coach Lute Olson admitted he made a mistake which resulted in NCAA penalties levied on the UA basketball program Thursday. It's time for the NCAA to admit it should do more to prevent traveling-team tournaments on college campuses.
Lute Olson has admitted making a mistake and realizes the ramification of the indiscretion on Sean Miller’s basketball program at Arizona over the next couple of years.
When will the NCAA announce that it made a mistake too by being reactive instead of proactive when it comes to allowing on-campus non-scholastic tournaments?
The genesis behind Olson’s affiliation with Jim Storey and goazcats.com — the creators of the dubious Cactus Classic in 2006 — stems from the former Arizona coach responding to another on-campus traveling-team event and how that affected Arizona’s overall recruiting.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has potential recruits — some Arizona is chasing — at his disposal at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Hundreds of players, including many of the 5-star variety, play on the campuses of North Carolina, Duke and North Carolina State annually at this event, conveniently scheduled during the quiet and dead periods, so athletes and their parents can unofficially visit with coaches at their campuses while other coaches can not attend the tournament.
Some background (using this year as an example):
The Tournament of Champions was scheduled from May 28-30.
The quiet period ran from April 1 to July 5. A college coach could not have any in-person contact with an athlete or an athlete’s parents off the college’s campus during this period. The coach could not watch a prospect play or visit the athlete’s high school during this period. An athlete or his parents could visit a college campus during this time.
The dead period ran from May 20-28. During the dead period, college coaches could not have any in-person contact with an athlete or an athlete’s parents at any time. That occurred only on the first day of the Tournament of Champions (May 28). Krzyzewski, North Carolina coach Roy Williams and N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe were within their rights to observe these recruits at their facilities during the last two days of the tournament.
This gives these schools an unfair advantage over the 344 other Division I programs. The only way the other programs can level the playing field is to seek a tournament to be scheduled on their campus during the quiet period. That’s what Olson attempted to do with the assistance of Storey, but things went awry with Olson requesting financial assistance from boosters for the Cactus Classic.
Compounding the problem was these potential recruits receiving free meals and lodging, which the NCAA determined as a violation of receiving improper benefits. Two undisclosed athletes competing in the 2006 Cactus Classic event who played for Arizona in 2007-08 had their statistics stripped for that season and the school was forced to vacate its victories as well.
Arizona and Olson undoubtedly were in the wrong but the NCAA deserves some criticism. With its reactionary legislation, the NCAA allowed for such an incident to fester. The NCAA sat idly while knowing the potential problems of having prospective athletes on a campus for non-scholastic, AAU events. The unfair recruiting edge of such events on a campus should have been scrutinized years ago.
Krzyzewski used the Tournament of Champions to his advantage this year while courting a high-profile Class of 2012 recruit Miller and Arizona’s staff is also chasing.
Alex Murphy, a 6-8 wing player from Southborough (Mass.) St. Mark’s Prep, received his first scholarship offer by Miller as a freshman. Murphy and his family were invited by Krzyzewski to his office after the Tournament of Champions. The group met for about two hours. Krzyzewski talked about the benefits of attending Duke while Murphy and his family observed all the NCAA and USA Basketball hardware in the office.
Murphy can also unofficially visit with Miller at Arizona, and he intends to do so in late August. However, only Murphy will be in Tucson, not a throng of high-level recruits, the luxury Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State have annually with the Tournament of Champions.
The NCAA has finally realized the unfair recruiting edge of North Carolina, Duke and N.C. State. On April 13, the NCAA’s legislation council referred Proposal No. 2009-100 to the Men’s Basketball Issues Committee for further study with a directive to come back with more refined legislation. The proposal would prohibit institutions from hosting, sponsoring or conducting non-scholastic men’s basketball contests, practices or events at campus facilities or off-campus facilities regularly used by the institution.
The legislation, introduced by the NCAA Board of Directors last Oct. 29, 2009, includes the caveat that contracts entered into after that date will be considered in violation if the rule is adopted. While the proposal has not been adopted yet it is still considered active in the cycle. The Men’s Basketball Issues Committee is expected to review the proposal next month, and will consider the appropriate scope of the legislation.
In order to prevent something similar to what has happened to Arizona, the NCAA must rule against allowing these events to take place on college campuses. The NCAA legislates matters pertaining to institutions of higher learning. It should have been intelligent enough to enact legislation like this years ago, which would have prevented this mess with Olson in the first place.
July 31st, 2010 on 6:47 am
This article is a complete joke. Face facts Lute did some shady crap and the school has been punished for it. Duke, State, and Carolina played within the rules as they were stated and did not get in trouble, but this article attempts to villify the NC schools. What a joke!!
July 31st, 2010 on 10:57 am
Maybe you didn’t read the headline which clearly indicates the point is that the NCAA shares fault. You are right, tobacco road isn’t breaking any rules, but the absence of a rule against these tournaments allows for corruption (or at very least an unfair advantage). If you are getting the sense that UNC, Duke and NC State are being implicated in something then maybe that is because these tournament, while not against the rules, are a bit on the dirty side.
July 31st, 2010 on 12:52 pm
What do Duke, UNC, and NCSU have to do with lute requesting financial assistance from boosters??? Sounds like SOUR GRAPES to me.
I almost feel pity for lute…. shame to have this be the end of his “legacy”.
July 31st, 2010 on 7:26 am
mike
the only point being made is the unfairness these campus tournaments create when scheduling of said tournaments coincide with the dead and quiet periods of recruiting. apparently, that is the main reason the ncaa has moved to prohibit ‘em. where you infer vilification must be some cryptic subtext only you can decipher.
July 31st, 2010 on 7:44 am
So, because TOBACCO ROAD is SYNONYMOUS with the GREATEST COLLECTION of College Basketball schools…. due to their proximity to one another, it is NOW at “fault”, for having such a distinguished title, making it THE Destination for any kid who wants to be someone in the hoops world???
LOL, your article is garbage….. nice job!
July 31st, 2010 on 10:51 am
It is hard TO understand what you are saying when you keep YELLING out words MID sentence!!!
July 31st, 2010 on 12:46 pm
beautiful retort!
Well done junior.
July 31st, 2010 on 8:05 am
Great piece of journalism, Javier. The answer to the worlds problems, of course, starts and stops with the Duke basketball program.
August 1st, 2010 on 2:31 pm
Peter,
Like it or not, Duke is the standard by which other programs strive to become. West Virginia and Kansas are a couple of others who hold these non-scholastic tournaments on their campuses. The NCAA obviously thinks this is a situation worth reviewing. This is not only my voice. And to answer some of the other comments on this thread, I never implied the North Carolina schools did something wrong or should be penalized. If you read the blog, it’s more about how these on-campus AAU tournaments are a problem-in-the-making and they do provide an unfair recruiting advantage.
July 31st, 2010 on 1:48 pm
In fairness, he’s trying to appeal to a parochial audience, who have the high IQ to live in extreme heat and in close proximity to the border drug wars. It’s the American equivalent of moving to the Middle East, without the benefits of oil.
They’re still operating under the impression that this is still an elite basketball program and not a shell of its former self.
August 1st, 2010 on 11:12 pm
Thanks for a great article, Javier. It puts the violation in context. It is completely understandable that Arizona wanted to get something started to counter the advantage held by other programs with existing on-campus tournaments.
Unfortunately, Storey and others – yes Lute, too – were careless, and didn’t make sure to play by the NCAA’s set of rules. The donor requests were signed and the pizza was eaten a long time ago now. I’m glad to see Miller and the UA Athletic Dept are moving forward without an appeal.
Lute will always be respected, rightly, as a great coach and a gentleman, regardless of this mess.
August 2nd, 2010 on 9:00 pm
Wow. I see we have a lot of goazcats sympathizer d-bags in here tonight.
August 3rd, 2010 on 5:35 am
The coaches at these schools can not watch, observe and evaluate players duirng the tournament. The only advantage is that players are able to take unofficial visits while they are on the campus and can see the facilities.
August 3rd, 2010 on 10:47 am
Alpha Hawk: The Gibbons tournament ran May 28-30. The dead period within the quiet period ended May 28. Coaches within the quiet period as described by the NCAA recruiting calendar can not observe potential prospects off campus. These players naturally were on these campuses. If you are an NCAA aficionado maybe you can clarify this, but that’s what it reads like to me.
Another thing to consider: Why are all three North Carolina schools involved in this? Is it because if let’s say Duke were the only one, would the other two think of it as unfair? You bet they would. Because it is.
August 3rd, 2010 on 11:02 am
NCAA GUIDELINES:
KEY TERMINOLOGY:
1. Contact: Any time a coach has face-to-face contact with the athlete or his parents off the college campus and says more than hello.
2. Dead Period: The college coach may not have any in-person contact with the athlete or athlete’s parents at any time. The coach may write and telephone you during this time.
3. Quiet Period: The college coach may not have any in-person contact with you or your parents off the campus. The coach may not watch you play or visit your high school during this period. Athletes may visit campus during this time. Coaches may write or telephone athletes during this time.
4. Evaluation: An evaluation is an activity by a coach to evaluate your academic or athletics ability. This would include visiting your high school or watching you practice or compete anywhere.
LIMITS ON TELEPHONE/CALLS AND CONTACT
Division I, Men’s and Women’s Basketball–
* SOPHOMORE YEAR:
Phone Calls: Athlete may make calls to coach at athlete’s expense only.
Contacts (off-campus): No off-campus contact allowed.
* JUNIOR YEAR:
Phone Calls:
1. Coach may call once during March.
2. Coach can call once between June 21 and June 30 following junior year.
3. Coach can call three times in July after junior year.
4. Coach can call once per week starting August 1 after junior year.
Contacts (off-campus):
* Allowed, once only during April at athletes’ high school campus.
* Allowed starting July 1 after athletes’ junior year.
* SENIOR YEAR:
Phone Calls:
* Coach may call once per week.
Contacts (off-campus):
1. A college coach may contact an athlete or athlete’s parents/legal guardian not more than three times during the athlete’s senior year.
2. A college coach cannot have more than a total of five contacts and evaluations with an athlete.
August 3rd, 2010 on 11:04 am
The wording on quiet period is vague by the NCAA. In one sentence it says a college coach can not watch a prospect play or visit his high school (meaning off the college campus). If it is that a coach can not watch a prospect play anywhere, it should be worded as such. Another NCAA flaw.