Dean Smith's buy's dinner for all his former players.
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http://cw39.com/2015/03/26/dean-smith-left-200-in-his-will-for-each-player-to-enjoy-a-nice-dinner/
What a classy move. You still do us proud coach. I will bet some of your players just frame it instead.
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What a classy human being. It’s such a shame his great mind failed him at the end.
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Recruiting violation.
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@Kip_McSmithers Absolutely. Roy let KU alumni give $400 to graduating seniors and we got hit with minor violations. Didn’t hurt too bad because we self-reported.
Maybe Coach Smith thought UNC was going to go down on so much other stuff that this gesture didn’t matter…
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@Kip_McSmithers Kinda Rude.
But really funny. Lol.
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I hope the violation comments were tongue in cheek.
Dean Smith was a class act who represented his (and our) State and his alma meter with respect and dignity.
And - just my opinion - while he coached a rival institution and put a few lumps on us, I feel his legacy should be respected.
nothing about the NCAA’s enforcement division will ever surprise me, but I would hope that a Coach who retired in 1997 and whose youngest recruits would have exhausted their eligibility 13 +/- years ago would be allowed to bequeath assets to them without NCAA scrutiny. Pretty classy act in my opinion.
Just my $0.02.
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Sarcasm folks.
But… it is by definition an extra benefit and I could see how this could be viewed as such by the notoriously idiotic NCAA!
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Hopefully the NCAA just leaves this alone, and lets it be the thankful token that Dean intended it to be. What makes this acceptable is that there is NO way Dean can coach any more players, so when he gives $200 to HIS personally-coached former players, its automatically capped. That’s a closed club, folks.
What I’m shocked about is that Calipari didn’t think of such an angle, some sort of unearthed “document” from some KY great’s estate, that names KY players as beneficiaries. But of course, he’d have to have “no knowledge” of such a thing…
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Maybe there is a bit in the rules that schools are allowed to give a couple of tickets to players who return after graduation. Remember seeing our former players sitting behind the KU bench? In kind maybe gives them the okay to give something of value not to exceed $200 per year. Attend a banquet, etc.
I would bet Coach Smith had this base covered before he put it in writing.
AND if the NCAA tried to raise a fuss about this they’d have a revolt on their hands.
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@JayhawkRock78 I can’t remember any teams getting in trouble in regard to former players. The NCAA is concerned about interactions between former players and current or potential players. A former player is treated just like a big name alumni/backer as far as contact. Colleges hire former players and pay them big bucks (see Huggy Bear) so why would the NCAA want to do more?
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Since it’s only to his lettering players and he retired in '97…
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@ralster Exactly. What’s to stop Mr Nike Phil Knight from telling Oregon guys when I die you’ll get 1,000?
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Do any of you remember a Jayhawk donor incident at the time Simien, Miles, Langford and Co. graduated? After their final season, a thoughtful and kindly lady, Mrs. Edwards, gave $50 checks to our graduating hoopsters. Was ruled a violation. As I recall, in her own defense, Mrs. Edwards claimed that she was merely intending to help basketball graduates purchase attire for their final ceremony. I recall reading, at the time, that no gratuities could be offered to departing athletes, even years after their playing years, without the threat of institutional violation. Perhaps this NCAA rule applied only to boosters, not to coaches, in this current case of Dean Smith’s thoughtful generosity?
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“Perhaps this NCAA rule applied only to boosters, not to coaches, in this current case of Dean Smith’s thoughtful generosity?”
Dean was no longer their coach and was no classified as a booster.
Technically… this is an infraction. Otherwise… you just make a deal with a recruit to benefit them after their playing days.
I’m curious if the NCAA will do or say something about this. What if a bunch of boosters start giving benefits away to ex-players? Even though this was a small thing and a very classy gesture you can see how this can be abused moving forward.
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@REHawk I don’t remember that, but it sounds like she had good intensions.
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@drgnslayr I just upvoted your post. This Smith Gratuity brings up an interesting point. What, technically, defines a BOOSTER? Actually, I have never been copacetic with the handling of the Darnell Jackson case. If Perry Ellis had mowed my yard for several of his public school years, and I had never contributed a dime to support Kansas athletics, can I, a devoted but unaffiliated Jayhawk follower, send him a $200 check at the time of his graduation? (Without threat of NCAA sanctions against KU…)
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@nuleafjhawk And yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, nuleaf, you are bound to declare that poor ol’ limping Perry will have to come mow my yard ONE MORE TIME!
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I’ve always been careful about that. I had a working vacation set-up in Alaska years ago and flew my father in to Anchorage to meet us. As it happened Mario Chalmers was on the flight with him returning from a KU recruiting trip. Dad pointed him out to me in the baggage claim and we thought about speaking to him. I wasn’t clear on the rules (I am a WEF member) and decided not to.
I’ve since looked into it because my kids are friends with some top athletes. It turns out if you’ve known them for years as in family friend there is no problem. But I can’t approach someone I barely know and put a good word in for KU.
