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NCAA Trying To Stem the Tide In Hoops Recruiting

Oct 22, 2009, 8:25 PM UTC

â†µHiring handlers, coaches, runners and other assorted hangers-on toâ†µbe vaguely administrative-type basketball folk has been a favoriteâ†µtactic of skeezy slick-haired basketball coaches for a long time. Timâ†µFloyd hired Daniel Hackett’s father to be a strength and conditioning coach andâ†µgot Hackett as a walk-on because USC pays tuition for its employees. Bobâ†µHuggins famously hired Michael Beasley’s AAU coach to get Beasley’sâ†µcommitment, making Dalonte Hill (pictured) the nation’s highest-paidâ†µassistant coach. And virtually everyone John Calipari’s ever recruited has had a guy tagâ†µalong for a well-remunerated position of little import. â†µ

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â†µâ†µBasketball coaches not operating at maximum skeeze don’t like this,â†µand they’re tryingâ†µto kill it: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥The NCAA intends to prohibit schools from hiring individualsâ†µâ‡¥associated with a prospect for two years before or after the prospect’sâ†µâ‡¥anticipated enrollment. The NCAA’s definition of an individual close toâ†µâ‡¥a prospect includes parents, guardians, handlers, athletic trainers andâ†µâ‡¥coaches.â†µâ‡¥
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â†µâ‡¥Another practice -- which has become common, even for mid-levelâ†µâ‡¥prospects -- is for schools to hire individuals close to a prospect toâ†µâ‡¥work at the schools’ summer basketball camps. ... To prohibit theâ†µâ‡¥paymentâ†µâ‡¥of fees to individuals associated with a prospect, the NCAA intends toâ†µâ‡¥allow schools to hire only its own staff members or enrolled students atâ†µâ‡¥its camps and clinics.â†µâ†µ

â†µThe NCAA's also trying to figure out ways to kill the practice ofâ†µmaking huge anonymous donations to non-profit (ha!) AAU organizations,â†µthough they don't have any good ideas yet. Even if they figure out a wayâ†µto cut out boosters and coaches from that sort of thing, the NCAA won'tâ†µbe able to stomp it out entirely without government help: earlier thisâ†µyear, Yahoo! detailed a quarter-million-dollarâ†µdonation to Kevin Love's AAU coach made by an agency attempting toâ†µsign Love. â†µ

â†µâ†µAll of this is putting a finger in the dike. Basketball recruiting isâ†µand will continue to be sketchy as hell; there’s too much money at stakeâ†µand the important kids are way too obvious for anyone to do anythingâ†µabout it. When Calipari can walk away from a vacated Final Four into oneâ†µof the plum jobs in the sport, the institutionalized corruption is soâ†µextensive that there’s little hope for shutting it down. â†µ

â†µâ†µI guess every little bit helps, though. Moving the money fromâ†µquasi-legal gray areas into the shadowy underworld is at worst annoyingâ†µto the people trying to use money to influence big basketball recruits.â†µAt best, it might actually bring down more guys like Floyd who flaunt theâ†µrules by pushing the quid pro quo into the realm of obvious NCAAâ†µviolations. â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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