KU fears investigation case due to Silvio De Sousa eligibility.
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@jayballer73 It would depend on what he knew, when he knew it, and what if anything he did about it.
I am not going to tie myself up in knots agonizing over the what-ifs about this. Que sera sera.
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@tis4tim That has been my concern - that what we are potentially facing is a “lack of institutional control” finding, which could come with multiyear probation, vacated wins, postseason ban, loss of scholarships, and recruiting restrictions. Especially as KU is a repeat offender.
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@mayjay Ha! I thought que sera sera was some obscure Latin legal term, like habeas corpus or ipso facto. Key sarah sarah.
Until I googled it and got Doris Day.
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@mayjay When looking at bullet point 5, it does not define what assisted means. There is no qualification, either, that there has to be a connection between the party assisting in recruiting and the school.
If I go to a kid I know at the local high school, tell him I want him to go to MU. That I love MU now, and I’m a fan of their BB team. Then I give him $3,000 to go to MU, this fits in bullet point #5. I have assisted in recruiting.
The “or request by university staff to assist” part of bullet point #5 deals with a situation when the school has asked for the help. So that would indicate that first part did not require that request.
I’m just talking plain reading of the language.
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I remember hearing that we were the victim in this. I really don’t follow too much what you’re all saying, but I do remember we’re the victim.
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So if Gassnola is deemed a booster in regards to KU…shouldn’t it be pretty clear that others play similar roles with other schools with other shoe companies? It seems then like any representative of Nike, UA, Kangaroos ( I wish KU was sponsored by Kangaroos by the way) who has communicated at all with a member of a coaching staff of any school at any time would be deemed a booster. Am I missing something here? At what point does a shoe company rep become a booster? If it is simply the “request by university staff to assist” part then doesn’t every school with a shoe sponsorship have boosters that work for those companies and schools?
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wissox said:
I remember hearing that we were the victim in this. I really don’t follow too much what you’re all saying, but I do remember we’re the victim.
More so every day…
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@HighEliteMajor I believe that rules like these cannot be read without their context. Isolating particular bullets as if they are independent, stand-alone prohibitions can result in really absurd results.
For example, anyone hiring a student athlete simply to cut a lawn becomes a booster under your strict reading, regardless of any university contact or even a recruiting pitch. The bullet on employment seems to say that. By its wording, the employer doesn’t even have to know that the kid is an athlete!
No, the introductory paragraph to these bullets discusses boosters in the context of representing the school, and that strict reading you are giving bullet 5 omits that requirement completely.
However, your interpretation provides an excellent illustration of why all those Q’s & A’s (and other advisories) caution anyone who might be considered a booster from contacting prospective athletes directly and instead to inform the scool so it can do the recruiting. Innocent contacts can thus avoid being misinterpreted, and (providing there is a relationship) recruiting efforts by boosters can be isolated and improper ones sanctioned.
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@focojayhawk I think that the NCAA is just taking the cases in the order that the clearest evidence comes out. KU happens to have been upto the armpits in Gassnola’s mud, there is juicy evidence on point, and a high-profile recruit has given them an opportunity to finally bring out and stomp out this particular corruption. Other cases will follow, but if KU is sanctioned, look for a bunch of self-reported violations getting less punishment.
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Assisted or has been requested by university staff to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes.
Let’s pretend I was taking to Bill Self and told him how much he needs Zion Williamson. Self says, sure, but how would you go get him? I say, well, let me try to talk with some friends and see where he stands…(all pretend)
I return to Self to inform him that Williamson was in fact interested in KU. I ask Williamson would it would take to join KU. He says whatever KU can do to get me to their program. Like what Zion? Well, Zion is too humble to tell me, so I say how about setting up an home visit with Self? Zion says ok, sure!
Now…my terrible pretend scenario makes me look like a booster. But the question is, who made me a booster? Self? Myself? Zion? Oh, wait, it just so happens I know quite a few other players and they really like me and are influenced by me. What makes me a booster? Oh, MONEY! I never mentioned money, bought, paid for players?
Yet by the NCAAs definition, technically, I’m a booster.
NCAA Bullet #5: Assisted or has been requested by university staff to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes.
I think the key phrase is “requested.” Who requested what? when? I never actually heard Gassanola say during the Grand Jury that he was “requested” to get players. He chose and Self humored him. Who really honestly gained? So the NCAA has to prove that he was specifically “requested” by Self to get a player. There was never any agreement. Gassanola just went and talked to players. We really don’t know if money was involved. We are assuming money was involved. So Fenney and SDS are guilty? Gassanola is guilty? Self is guilty? Oh, Townsend said, “Whatever it takes…” What the hell does that really mean? NOTHING!
This is a damn witch hunt and the NCAA looks foolish for not taking care of business. They have spent tax payers money and now there will be hell to pay, evidence or not. KU is going to pay the govt back.
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So, I’m bracing for hell. I am really curious to see where this all leads to other programs. If this ends with KU, this was a nasty conspiracy plain and simple. The other programs seem very relaxed and KU is now tarnished. Congrats Jayhawk Nation because now we are the scourge of college basketball. We have gone from the mecca of basketball to the slums of basketball history and one man TJ Gassanola and his ass of a lawyer not only destroyed KU bball, but tarnished a kid in the process. Nice! Oh…Rock Chalk Jayhawk Go KU…You can take a guy of Kansas, but you can’t take Kansas out of the guy. I’m a truehawk through and through. I don’t care what this damn mess causes.
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@truehawk93 When reading bullet point 5, it says two things – just read the bolded part in each sentence.
Assisted or has been requested by university staff to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes
Assisted or has been requested by university staff to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes
The “or” creates two options.
The “requested” part is one of two options under this bullet point that create a “booster.”
I think it is undeniable that Gassnola was a booster under the NCAA rule.
Now, that doesn’t get into my firm position that Adidas is a separate entity, Gassnola works for Adidas, Gassnola serves Adidas’ corporate interests, etc. That goes to the legal (federal prosecution) part of it. Which is not the NCAA part.
I would also suggest that there is no TJ Gassnola assisting in recruiting if one man, Bill Self, didn’t decide that Gassnola’s assistance was desired. The buck stops with Bill Self.
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As frustrating as it is to see all this negative publicity surrounding KU, any future assumptions about what may or may not transpire are incredibly premature. We have no clue what is going to come out of the Nike trial (i.e. who is implicated, to what degree). While it sucks beyond belief that Adidas/KU were up first, I find it hard to believe the level of incriminating evidence that comes to light during the Nike school trials will not at the very least be the same and potentially worse.
I know there is nothing supporting this but… we all know the adage “save the best for last.” Was it just was a coin toss as to how/why Adidas went first? Appetizers are served before dinner and dinner before dessert. I would think the Nike trials are where the FBI ties a nice bow around their however long/however costly investigation into the underbelly of college basketball.
Either way truehawk93, what else can the Nike schools do but operate as business as usual. They don’t know WHAT the FBI knows, so to act unusual/irrational would almost undoubtably be an implication of guilt. They are lucky in that they get to play this season without their school/coaches/players being part of the 24 hour news cycle because nothing has been released to the public. Or maybe… the NCAA comes down hard when scores of players are found to have been compromised during the Nike-run AAU circuits. We did hold out SDS after his “situation came to light.” Would we have if not for the investigation? How many Nike schools are potentially playing a kid whose name just hasn’t been made public yet?
Anyways, I’m sitting back and counting down the days until it’s Nike’s turn. Popcorn ready!
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@user_RCJH pass the
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@user_RCJH “…any future assumptions about what may or may not transpire are incredibly premature.”
But it gives everyone here something to agonize about. Look how delightfully quiet the Politics section has been for the past coupla months!
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@mayjay As much as I dislike the “all politics all the time” current nature of our society, I’d certainly take that if it meant all this NCAA/SDS crap had never happened
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Drop Adidas. Pick up Nike. All kinds of problems would go away very quickly.
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I still think we should partner up with PONY.
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@DanR The old Pony shoes were sweet. I miss Converse most.
I saw Kawhi Leonard has got a shoe for New Balance. They paid some kid lots of money not play CBB, too.
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KUSTEVE said:
Drop Adidas. Pick up Nike. All kinds of problems would go away very quickly.
Not so fast Steve!
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KUSTEVE said:
Drop Adidas. Pick up Nike. All kinds of problems would go away very quickly.
Everyone is dirty, it’s just a matter of time before Nike and Under Armour’s dealings are made public as well.
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Sorry didn’t mean to post twice. I scrolled up say someone beat me too. Still the point is being driven home. Everyone is involved and no one should be exempt.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 A huge question is whether there is some other motivation behind targeting Adidas. This is big money and Adidas is Nike’s biggest competitor in the CBB realm. Could the prosecution/FBI be swayed by some political force in such a manner?
This willl be answered if we see Duke, UK, UNC in this too. What better “lead” than the KT audio regarding Zion. Why would not the FBI interview Zion given that info?
Time will tell perhaps.
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@HighEliteMajor There’s an FBI investigation going on right now into the EYBL league that started in 2017. Nike’s day is coming, it’s just a matter of when the FBI finishes that investigation and starts releasing info and charging people.
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When either the NCAA or even the FBI call for an investigation into Zion, then I’ll believe this entire process is for “truth, justice, and the American way”. Until then, I’m sticking with the radical conspiracy that this is an Adidas setup. Foreign company going up against a huge American company. They flat hammered Louisville, and they’ll flat hammer us. Now, it is true they are going after Stubby Miller and his gang in Arizona. Is that Dook taking out a recruiting rival …or was it Phil Knight’s way of leveling the playing field in the Pac 12…or was this an example of the great fairness of the mighty NCAA to go after all that doth break thy rules? In that case, does anyone think they’ll go back, and put Alabama on probation for Sexton, or will the 1 game suspension he suffered last year suffice? Anybody believe we’ll see a breaking news story about the NCAA or the FBI looking into Zion’s “price” anytime soon?
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@HighEliteMajor Sad truth is that there is dirty money in virtually everything in this country from politics down to college athletics and several in between. What are the odds that Nike handed the FBI some cash and said these guys used to work for us and we think they’re dirty, wanna take a look? Nike has a huge leg up at this point, they aint stupid, they’re closing bank accounts and burning what evidence they have since this started. Nike knows its coming and what evidence they have on adidas. Coach K prob has 17 burner phones only texts at this point in code names. Really if Nike is never punished or looked into closely it will be obvious that they have bought someone very high up. Think about how only SMU got in trouble in the 80s, yet several other schools were paying and it was known. In risky business you better have some friends in high places.
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@KUSTEVE 100% agree, It’s crazy at this point Arizona and Stumpy are even playing right now If they have a recording of him discussing a 100k for Ayton. But until something happens to these Nike schools that have better recruiting than us 9 of 10 years, it will be nothing short of a setup for logical folks. No way Dook signs the 3 best players in this past class and didn’t pay. If KU is paying for guys in the 40s thru the 100s most years then Dook, Arizona and UK’s consistent top 10 classes are BS and paid for.
