FedEx Doesn’t Deliver in Memphis

Jeff Goodman of FOX Sports, a shooting-fish-in-a-barrel enthusiast, dug up some dirt on the University of Memphis’s courtship of elite point guard prospect Abdul Gaddy. The short version: Gaddy’s mom works in a FedEx call center. FedEx CEO David Bronczek, a huge Memphis booster, called Ms. Gaddy to talk about her son, the elite point guard prospect, and to lie say nice things about Memphis coach John Calipari.
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↵This is an NCAA violation, of course. It falls in the same class as paying for a prospect’s mountain bike and eating a peanut butter sandwich after 2 p.m. on Tuesdays. Thus, as Goodman notes, Gaddy could be barred from receiving an athletic scholarship from Memphis.
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↵A big deal has been made of all this, as Calipari has a shady reputation and Memphis seems to get mixed up in recruiting trouble frequently. Bronczek screwed up tremendously this time ... but I just can’t get too worked up. In the grand rodeo of NCAA recruiting violations, is a situation where apparently no money or favors are offered really that bad? Maybe there’s a slippery slope, where something like this could lead to “send your kid to Memphis or you’re fired,” but I’m not seeing it.
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↵Of course, it’s a minor victory for the NCAA to track down a recruiting violation before the kid has left for the NBA. (See: O.J. Mayo, Darrell Arthur etc.)↵