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lol, more NCAA violations for Thug U. New regime, but the university's legacy lives on. Meet the new boss, it's the same as the old boss. I'm sure this comes as a surprise to no one.
I mean, if this keeps up, at what point do we start comparing Miami's record of recruiting violations and probation violations to SMU's?
Quote:
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Miami coach Al Golden's second season at the school is beginning much like his first one, with new accusations of rule breaking, the looming threat of serious NCAA sanctions and with no apparent end in sight for the long probe into the Hurricanes' compliance practices.
Citing unidentified sources, Yahoo! Sports reported Friday that former Miami football employee Sean Allen -- who has been linked to one-time booster and now convicted Ponzi scheme architect Nevin Shapiro through the improper-benefits scandal that broke last year -- assisted members of Golden's coaching staff with recruiting.
If true, that could be a major NCAA violation by the troubled program, despite Golden's repeated insistence that he wants to "get it fixed."
Earlier Friday, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that NCAA investigators visited Miami for several days earlier this month, just the latest round of the lengthy inquiry into the Hurricanes' athletic department. The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because information about the probe has not been publicly released. Shapiro's claims that he provided dozens of Miami athletes and recruits with extra benefits over an eight-year span were published by Yahoo! Sports last August.
The university did not have immediate comment Friday.
Golden is scheduled to discuss the coming season at the Atlantic Coast Conference media days in North Carolina early next week.
A significant portion of Shapiro's allegations from last year revolved around Allen. Shapiro said he gave Allen more than $200,000, most allegedly spent on players and recruits, as well as a luxury car. Allen denied those claims to Yahoo! Sports in 2011, and has not responded to interview requests from the AP.
Shapiro's attorney, Maria Elena Perez, also did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. She deposed Allen late last year, shortly before court records showed Miami entered into an agreement with a bankruptcy trustee to return $83,000 it said it received "directly and indirectly" from Shapiro.
Miami has been bracing for additional allegations, and was aware earlier this week that they were coming. In an email obtained by the AP, university president Donna Shalala told trustees Thursday that "someone who had a low level position at one time" was expected to allege that Miami assistant coach and former NFL player Micheal Barrow committed recruiting violations. Shalala said it has already been investigated.
Yahoo! Sports reported Friday that Allen tried to aid both Barrow and former assistant Aubrey Hill, who left the Hurricanes less than a month after Golden was hired and is now the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida. It cited Allen's phone records, detailing calls he made to recruits -- often moments before or after calling Barrow or Hill. It also listed other alleged violations, such as Allen giving recruits rides to the Miami football offices or to restaurants for meetings with coaches.
Some current players were listed as having contact with Allen during their recruiting process, including standout defensive lineman Anthony Chickillo, cornerback Thomas Finnie and incoming freshmen Randy "Duke" Johnson and Herb Waters.
Chickillo, according to the new Yahoo! Sports report, was taken to a strip club on his recruiting visit by former Miami defensive end Olivier Vernon, who decided after last season to skip his final season with the Hurricanes and make himself eligible for the NFL draft. Vernon was one of the players sanctioned by the NCAA last season for accepting money from Shapiro.
It's unknown when the investigation will end, said the people who spoke to the AP on Friday. When the probe is over, Miami would first receive a notice of allegations, then have the chance to appear before the NCAA's infractions committee.
Typically, when investigators visit a campus, they are either conducting interviews with athletic department personnel, reviewing documents, or both. The NCAA generally does not provide status updates during their investigations, and university officials only have said they are continuing to cooperate with the terms of the inquiry.
Earlier this week, safety Ray-Ray Armstrong was dismissed for undisclosed rules violations. Armstrong was suspended for four games last year after acknowledging he took money from Shapiro and then missed another game while the school checked to see if he broke other rules after he interacted with a person who works with professional athletes.
Miami is also dealing with the sudden departure of former director of football operations Tom Deahn.
So nearly a year after the Hurricanes became wrapped up in an extra-benefits scandal -- and with training camp fast approaching, along with ACC media days starting this weekend -- Miami still has plenty of questions and very few answers.
"Who doesn't want a clean slate? We get a fresh opportunity to do something new," running back Mike James said earlier this summer when asked if the Hurricanes were eager to put the troubles of 2011 behind them. "Hey, I'm happy to see last year go. It's gone. Let it go."
Miami could still face heavy sanctions from the NCAA over the scandal sparked by the allegations Shapiro in last year's Yahoo! Sports story. Eight Miami players missed at least one game as part of sanctions the NCAA imposed over Shapiro's claims, and four others had to make small restitution payments.
It was the first blow in an academic year filled with compliance-related issues.
Men's basketball was hit multiple times, first with the suspension of DeQuan Jones after he was linked to Shapiro -- Jones was ultimately allowed to return to the team -- and then suspensions of two other players. Reggie Johnson missed a game after the joint compliance investigation showed members of his family accepted "impermissible travel benefits" from a member of the school's former coaching staff. And guard Durand Scott, the Hurricanes' leading scorer, was suspended just before Miami's ACC tournament game with Florida State after he was also found to have gotten unspecified extra benefits.
Even Miami's nationally ranked women's basketball team had problems, with star guard Riquna Williams suspended for violating team -- not NCAA -- rules just before the Hurricanes went to the NCAA tournament. Without Williams, Miami was ousted in the second round.
But those matters pale to the ongoing inquiry into football, Miami's centerpiece program with five national championships since 1983. And it's long been clear that the uncertainty -- what rules were broken and how tough will the penalties be -- will linger into this coming season, just as it overshadowed every step of the 2011 campaign.
"You've just got to go forward and put the past in the past," Miami quarterback Stephen Morris said earlier this offseason. "Last year was rough for everybody, for every sport here. I'm sure everybody is just excited to move on."
I'm very disappointed in the latest round of allegations against Miami, and I have to hope that they aren't true. It's surprising given the high character reputation of Al Golden. Regardless, we'll fight through this. Hurricanes always do.
I'm very disappointed in the latest round of allegations against Miami, and I have to hope that they aren't true. It's surprising given the high character reputation of Al Golden. Regardless, we'll fight through this. Hurricanes always do.
Even if the head coach changes, the boosters and the alumni and the culture that surrounds the program do not. It's Miami's own that keep doing the university in.
I'm very disappointed in the latest round of allegations against Miami, and I have to hope that they aren't true. It's surprising given the high character reputation of Al Golden. Regardless, we'll fight through this. Hurricanes always do.
Joe Paterno has a rock solid reputation too. Until he didn't. Just saying you never can be sure about a person.
Even if the head coach changes, the boosters and the alumni and the culture that surrounds the program do not. It's Miami's own that keep doing the university in.
Oh I realize that, we need a major culture change. We need to root out the evil within the program and rebuild it. I believe we can do it, but the first change that needs to be made is to send Shalala packing.
I didn't want to attack your university's president because I wasn't sure your stance on her, but yes I couldn't agree more.
I was going to say the same thing. There has been on constant in all of this, and that is Shalala. I mean, seriously, you can't keep one single guy away from your athletes?
I didn't want to attack your university's president because I wasn't sure your stance on her, but yes I couldn't agree more.
I don't know how she still has a job at the university. It's clear she had knowledge of the Shapiro situation and did nothing. We need to root out the evil from our program and clean it up, and that starts with Shalala. I wish the NCAA would hurry up and finish their investigation, so we know what sanctions we'll be dealing with. They really do move as slow as molasses in January.
I don't know how she still has a job at the university. It's clear she had knowledge of the Shapiro situation and did nothing. We need to root out the evil from our program and clean it up, and that starts with Shalala. I wish the NCAA would hurry up and finish their investigation, so we know what sanctions we'll be dealing with. They really do move as slow as molasses in January.
Ha! Former Miami AD Paul Dee took nearly 5 years snooping around the USC campus until he found 1 basketball player with a dubious runner, 1 homesick tennis player who made long-distance phone calls to Europe on the athletic department's dime, and 1 sleazy football player who decided that he wanted a payday NOW from a couple of bogus agents rather than wait a few months for said payday from a real agent.
All of that resulted in 30 lost scholarships over 3 years with a cap of 75 players for each year, a 2-year bowl ban, and a vacation of wins for the final two games of 2004 and all of 2005.
FIVE YEARS for a whopping three bad student-athlete apples.
I kind of wish that Mike Garrett was hired by the NCAA to look into the Miami allegations, because that would be the irony of ironies in this situation. Eff the NCAA. I hope that organization gets disbanded sooner rather than later.
Michigan opens the season against Alabama this year. I wonder if that will factor into Toussaint's discipline.
Quote:
SALINE, Mich. -- Michigan running back Fitzgerald Toussaint has been suspended indefinitely from the team after being arrested Saturday evening on a DUI charge.
Toussaint, a redshirt junior, ran for 1,041 yards and nine touchdowns on 187 carries as Michigan's starting running back in 2011. The total was second on the team behind quarterback Denard Robinson.
"Fitz made a poor decision and has been suspended indefinitely because of that action," coach Brady Hoke said in a statement Monday. "There are expectations that come with being a football student-athlete at the University of Michigan and those responsibilities were not met in this instance. We will use this as an opportunity to educate Fitz and make sure he understands the high standards that we have established within our program."
Saline (Mich.) Police Chief Larry Hrinik confirmed Toussaint's arrest. He said that at the time of the arrest, Toussaint's blood alcohol level was .12. Michigan's legal limit is .08.
The average person will tell you that they think the NCAA is a dirty organization in many ways. Most people are not naive enough to think that Cam Newton is the only player in college football who has been paid or offered a massive amount of money to attend a certain school. Like almost every other high-profile coach, Nick Saban has been accused of committing recruiting violations in the past but has managed to keep his resume clean. Sports agent Ralph Cindrich seems to believe Saban is as dirty as they come.
Cindrich discussed the sanctions handed down to Penn State by the NCAA during a recent interview with Larry Richert and John Shumway of KDKA in Pittsburgh. He called NCAA president Mark Emmert a “bozo” but seemed adamant about attacking Saban. When asked who is monitoring the NCAA as an organization, Cindrich basically said Saban has them in his back pocket.
“No one’s watching them,” he said according to Don Kausler Jr. of Al.com. “You want to know who’s watching them? Nick Saban. You want to trust Nick Saban? I have enough on Saban right now – and I realize this stuff gets out, and I also realize the truth is a defense. I know what goes on in college football, so cut me a break. … Everybody has something on Nick Saban, for God’s sake. And if he has a problem with anything I say, come on after me, big guy.”
Cindrich went on to say that anyone who thinks thousands of dollars aren’t being given to college players every Saturday is “naive.” When asked why the NCAA has never done anything about it, he said it’s because Saban doesn’t want to lose his $7 million salary — only $5 million of which “we know about.” In other words, it’s all a complicated scheme that Saban is in on.
“Oh, come on,” Cindrich said when asked if Alabama players are being paid. “The statute of limitations has probably run as far as any criminality was involved to what I was relating to Saban, but I was involved in it. I know what he tried to do. I know what he tried to cover up. If he wants to stand up and say something, I’ll bring that up. If it’s out of time, I’ll go to the nearest agent I know, and I’ll bring up about a dozen things that are in time, because that’s the way he and most of the big-time schools, particularly in the SEC, operate.”
While not surprising, these are some pretty significant accusations. We all know how ugly the Cam Newton situation got. Don’t expect Saban to dignify them with any type of response.
While I doubt the validity of a lot of this, it's still a very interesting read.
Former Auburn RB Michael Dyer has been dismissed from Arkansas State for a violation of team rules. Dyer was suspended indefinitely from Auburn before last season's bowl game for a violation of team rules and chose to transfer. Dyer was the offensive MVP of the 2011 national championship game and rushed for over 1,000 yards as both a freshmen and sophomore.
At this point I would expect Dyer to transfer to an FCS or Division II school where he can play immediately and then go pro after the season. There was a rumor earlier this month that he was considering going to DII Alabama State when the NCAA denied his request to play immediately at Arkansas State.
There was a rumor earlier this month that he was considering going to DII Alabama State when the NCAA denied his request to play immediately at Arkansas State.
That would make sense. Alabama State is a halfway house for D-I outcasts.
Of course, they weren't bowl eligible last year and will be heading to the Big East (lucky them) next year. Seriously, is it any wonder the Big East didn't get a bowl tie-in?
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