Huggins knew about Mayo, and he did nothing??
by Paragon SC on May 26, 2008 5:43 PM PDT
in USC Basketball
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PrintI caught this over the weekend but wanted to wait so I could enjoy the holiday, but with everyone else commenting I'll jump in.
I'm shocked...just shocked, I didn't know. Bob Huggins, defender of truth and honor and guard at the gate of the NCAA. WOW...who knew?
As I mentioned earlier the relationship between the agent and the respective players associations (NFL/NBA) makes it difficult for discipline or investigations to be carried out. The other part of the problem is the coaching community, they all feed from the same trough. They would sell their own mother to get a top recruit, heck they’d even send her C.O.D. They are also just as complicit when dealing with “runners” they know it’s a deal with the devil if they choose to deal with them.
Enter the White Knight Bob Huggins.
Mayo, originally from Huntington, W.Va., was among the top recruits in the nation at the time. Huggins, also originally from West Virginia, had been recruiting him for years and appeared to have a good shot at bringing him to K-State. Publicly, Mayo said he chose USC over K-State.
But Underwood today indicated that Mayo was saying up to the last minute that he wanted to come to K-State to be with Huggins because of their long ties. Huggins, though, said, "We're not going to take you. You'll never pass," in reference to NCAA amateur clearinghouse rules.
"So it's no surprise that this is coming out now," Underwood said of the scandal. "We knew it."
The irony is that "nothing's going to happen to O.J. Mayo," Underwood said. "It's becoming Southern Cal's problem."
Underwood didn't blame USC; the phenomenon of money being funneled through agents to players in their youth is "impossible to control," he said.
But he did credit Huggins, who left K-State after one year to coach at West Virginia, with keeping the Wildcats out of the mess now enveloping USC. "It's a credit to Huggs that he did his due diligence."
So, Huggins “knew” this was an issue but chose to say nothing? Let me ask this then, what did Huggins know that the NCAA didn’t or failed to turn up in their background checks. Huggins has always been a bit of a malcontent in the league and that’s putting it nicely.
Huggins telling Mayo that "We're not going to take you. You'll never pass." is intriguing in the sense that if he felt that Mayo would have passed he would have taken him “runners” and all. Huggins was drooling at the possibiltiy of getting Mayo. In fact KSU offered him a scholarship and asked him several times to visit their campus. Mayo declined. Huggins is pathetic, sounds like sour grapes to me.
Maybe Mayo wanted to go to KSU then again maybe not. No disrespect to those in Manhattan but I have a hard time believing it because Mayo would not get the exposure he was looking for plus he would have had to share the floor with Beasely so I'm not buying it.
Of course KSU officials now deny they knew anything.
Kansas State spokesman Tom Gilbert issued the following statement,
Neither Kansas State, nor anyone who has been employed by the university, has firsthand knowledge of any improprieties in the recruitment of O.J. Mayo. In his speech to the Rotary group, assistant coach Brad Underwood was speaking in generalities about his recruitment by K-State. We are unaware of any specific instances of NCAA violations involving Mr. Mayo.
Neither Underwood or Wildcats head coach Frank Martin were available for comment.
Let the damage control begin. Huggins is the gift that keep on giving.
Coaches like Huggins are part of the problem. If KSU had little to no negative exposure he would have taken Mayo, thus perpetuating the problem. If Mayo was so radioactive why not try an be part of the solution and point it out to the NCAA so that it could have been addressed. Mayo passed the NCAA's background checks so his statement above is sanctimonious at best and a downright lie at worst.
If I'm the NCAA I would ask Huggins why he didn't come forward so the NCAA wouldn't be any further embarrassed.
Thanks Bob you're a real team player, we'll keep that in mind when you have your own issues...
What a clown.
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No honor among thieves
There’s no reason to think that Huggins would help the NCAA or USC. Part of that is because there’s no reason to, and partly because of this:
Mayo and Beasley became acquainted on the summer all-star circuit and have remained friendly competitors over the years.“Every time me and him step on the floor against each other, it’s pretty intense,” Beasley said. “It’s back and forth talking. We’re fired up to play each other all the time.”
Mayo almost attended KSU, nearly following his closest friend, KSU forward Bill Walker to the Wildcats. The two former preschool playmates will meet in a clash that has always been intense.
In other words, Michael Beasley and Bill Walker come from the same corrupted youth basketball environment as OJ Mayo did. If Huggins knew that Mayo was potential trouble, then why was he not concerned about Walker and Michael “Four Phones” Beasley? Maybe it was because there was nothing to worry about with Walker and Beasely. Maybe Mayo was so obviously on the take that it was unavoidable. Or maybe Huggins is just shooting his mouth off to get in a shot at Mayo and re-ingratiate himself with K-State.
I don’t know the answer to any of those. But unless Huggins is a latter-day Sherlock Holmes when it comes to detecting shenanigans from high-school basketball players, then I have to wonder whether he really did what he claimed, or if he just pretends that he doesn’t know what he knows, because he’s worried that he might get caught. Hypothetically speaking, by the way.
Underwood False Premise
Yeah, agree with the concerns on this post. If Huggins and Underwood were so smart, then why is Underwood’s premise in his quote completely inaccurate? The fact is that OJ WAS CLEARED by the NCAA. Also, the NCAA reviewed academic status for eligibitily, so Underwood is not referencing any knowledge of cash from runners. So, after OJ WAS CLEARED, why didn’t KSU make a run at him? Because he was already sold on LA, dummy.
If I remember correctly
The NCAA amateur status check takes place very late – well after recruits have a chance to switch schools.
Now that doesn’t mean it would have stopped Huggins from taking Mayo. Anyone who thinks Bill Walker hasn’t taken money in the past is crazy.
by SuperBruinMan on May 27, 2008 10:07 PM PDT up reply actions
Your comments are simple-minded... if Huggy knew then about Mato then I bet MOST coaches knew
what was going on with Mayo and they ALL decided to keep away from the dirt… but, not USC… they like the dirt in football and, now, basketball… good luck dealing with the NCAA infraction circus… USC is NOT an innocent party… not in fottball or basketball.
LMAO… I find it HILLARIOUS that people try to make it sound that USC was not at fault because somebody already knew that Mayo was dirty… THAT’S funny!!!
Since you joined shortly before commenting...
Allow me to point you to posts that indicate that we are not assuming that USC is a victim here, of anything other than their own careless oversight.
None of the regulars here are impressed with the Mayo situation, especially in the wake of Reggie’s Bush’s shenanigans, and we’d be hard pressed to argue against some kind of penalty for the basketball team.
If you want to chew on that here, fine. If all you’ve got is rivals.com shit-talking, go back to burning your autographed pictures of DickRod.
Wow!
DC Trojan was eloquent in his response, I won’t be. I will play the bad cop to his good cop. You’re a nimrod plain and simple. Your user name shows me all I need to know. I’ve seen you elsewhere so I’m not surprised that you would come here to flame.
You clearly haven’t read anything that we have written on this, nor do we think that you are interested in our opinions or having any sort of civil dialogue, so I won’t bother wasting my time trying to be rational with you.
Simply stated we think SC is culpable here if for nothing more than stupidity for letting Guillory near the basketball program after what he did in 2001. That to us is enough for someone to answer with their job. SC’s sorry defense of not knowing about Guillory while at the same time barring Guillory from receiving Mayo’s game tickets is mind-boggling at the least.
Now run along back to whatever tree you swung in from, thanks for stopping by. Its too bad that your stay was a short one I wish it had never taken place at all.
Nimrod…
The Huggins hatred seems misguided
Yes, I just joined so I could post so you can slam me if you like.
Maybe Huggins knew and maybe he didn’t. I haven’t seen where Huggins has even commented on it, only where Underwood quoted him from years ago. I doubt Huggins would comment on it if he had known, because he would realize that there could be repercussions from the NCAA if he had known and didn’t inform them at the time. But like I said, I haven’t seen where Huggins has commented on it, so I’m just as likely to believe that Huggins wanted Mayo the entire time and Underwood is just trying to boast about his program’s integrity regarding Beasley.
In all likelihood, most, if not all of the one and dones in the NCAA are associated with runners against NCAA rules, including Beasley. And it’s certainly possible that some coaches can see which ones are more likely to be more risky toward being caught for violations. The question is, how many coaches in that position would report it? I can’t imagine recruiting would be very easy among blue chippers if Huggins developed a reputation as a whistle blower. If you’re a kid getting cash and the coach recruiting you has a rep of reporting players to the NCAA, (even if it’s not public, the rumors will be there amongst the corrupt AAU/runner system) there’s not much chance you’re even going to speak w/ that coach, let alone take a scholarship.
Welcome...
We don’t slam people for the sake of doing so that’s not what we’re about here. We hammer only those who attack us first like the clown above. We like civil discourse.
You make some good points. I think you have a pretty good grasp on it. But Huggins, IF he said it, is still a sanctimonious prick and he is talking out of his ass.
So if Huggins didn’t say it why is Underwood claiming that he did. These guys think too much with the wrong head. Does Underwood honestly think that NCAA isn’t now going to want have a little chat with him over his remarks. Talk about putting KSU in the line of fire… all for the sake of being a hot shot?
As for who would or would not report it, well it only takes one solid guy to rat a bad situation out to try and turn this whole mess around. Unfortunately Huggins is not that guy.
Still not sure why Huggins is such a prick.
I won’t try to claim that Huggins is on the level. But he’s certainly no worse than ANY successful coach in a good program. Huggins spoke to the media on Tuesday and would not comment on the situation. If he had said what Underwood claims, he certainly isn’t the one trying to brag about it. I saw in another article a reasonable explanation as to why Huggins wouldn’t have reported it. If Huggins reports this to the NCAA without definitive proof, he sets himself and his institution up for a huge lawsuit. But I’ll stand by the recruiting angle as to why he wouldn’t or couldn’t report it. And though Huggins certainly isn’t the solid guy to report these happenings, I still haven’t seen where ANY other coaches are stepping up to be that guy either.
USC got a bad deal because they want to continue to be the kind of program that’s competitive and successful and they were unlucky. I don’t think anyone really thinks this reflects any more of a negative image on USC than any other school that recruits and plays one and dones. Unfortunately, with the new NBA rule, a lot more schools are probably going to find themselves in the same situation. Do you honestly believe that if Tim Floyd had information that would cause him to believe that USC would be under sanctions for recruiting Mayo, he would have notified the NCAA and put his own school and position on the line to protect somebody else? He probably would have done the same thing and just steered Mayo away from USC.
But I’m still not convinced that’s what happened. I doubt that Huggins has the scruples to turn down Mayo regardless of the financials and K-State was just lucky that he chose to go somewhere else. But that doesn’t make him any more of a prick than 3/4 of the coaches in NCAA Div I.
Simply stated
The answer is in your comment
I doubt that Huggins has the scruples to turn down Mayo regardless of the financials and K-State was just lucky that he chose to go somewhere else.
No kidding…Knowing that Huggins would have taken Mayo if he could have gotten away with it is enough for me. The difference here is that it is alleged that Huggins said that he wouldn’t take Mayo because he wouldn’t get cleared. If he didn’t say it why would Underwood throw that out there?
Why would Huggins or Underwood for that matter make those statements now? Sour grapes? Showing off? And now Huggins won’t comment? Its pretty clear that his comments threw KSU under the bus and now they have to do some damage control. Way to step up Bob.
put it in context....
with the very next line of my post. You still haven’t argued how his actions are different than any other coach in Div I, but still want to criticize him. And it’s not just now that Huggins won’t comment. He has never commented on this. Whose comments threw KSU under the bus? Huggins? He’s NEVER made a comment publicly yet he’s the prick because he may have said something to Mayo when any other coach in that hypothetical situation would have made the same decision. It’s an empty argument. Someone else accuses him of something that all coaches would do if they had that knowledge, and he’s to blame.
Again…
Going on the premise that Huggins said it to Underwood (I will concede your point that we don’t what Huggins said if anything) why bring it up now. Were they trying to show the world how smart they are? Huggins is at WVU not KSU so what’s the point in Underwood bringing it up now? Do you not think that if Huggins (and Underwood) knew, based on Underwood’s statement, that the NCAA is going to want to know the details? Why bring attention to yourself?
Underwood’s comments lead me to believe that he had a conversation with Huggins about Mayo. Yet Gilbert’s statement to the contrary shows me that KSU wants nothing to do with this at all and that’s fine. Underwood’s comments coming out now that they knew about Mayo really serves no purpose and to me throws KSU "under the bus" because Gilbert had to address an issue that KSU wants no part of it and could have the NCAA knocking on their door to possibly look into other things. For what? To say hey, we’re smarter than everyone else? Again, Why bring attention to yourself?
You’re entitled to your opinion. You disagree with me and that’s fine, no offense taken. Huggins would have taken him if he could have gotten away with it warts and all but does that make it right? To brag about it now is sanctimonious to me.
Right or wrong, I’ve said my piece about this and I’m moving on.
Good luck with your upcoming season.
Mutual assured destruction
I think you’ve hit the crux of why there’s no incentive for reform from within the system – the players have no real reason to not take the money, and the coaches would be committing professional suicide if they got a reputation for turning in recruits – partly because the pool of recruits would shrink, and partly because once they got fired for losing with honest players, they’d be unable to get another job somewhere else.
What a revolting predicament.
McHale quote in Ford article....
regarding the allegations with BDA and if they would in any way affect the T’Wolves interest in drafting OJ #3…”if we were only allowed to draft college players who had never accepted cash, then there would be slim pickings”. not verbatim as it’s from memory, but obviously, everybody does it according to Kevin McHale. at least it was all done off-campus by non-USC staff. what, are we supposed to surveil our players 24/7? I think that would violate their privacy rights. we’re a university, not a private investigation company. of course, Guillory should have been locked out years ago. very cool that the bloggers moderate and participate in comments!
So maybe...
we’ll also find out who this is:
“And last week agent David Falk told CNBC that one agent paid $500,000 for a player this year. Every agent knows which player he is talking about.” (Dan Wetzel at Yahoo Sports)
Never thought I'd find myself linking to this...
but there’s actually been a couple of good Tank McNamara strips on the subject:
He offers no specifics
All he said was “youll never pass”, and then after the allegations came out he claimed that “We knew it.” Sounds to me like he just had a strong suspicion that Mayo could be dirty and had that suspicion confirmed. I doubt that anyone other than the principals (Mayo, Guillory, Johnson, BDA) knew for sure what was going on. Thats my take on it.
Didn't want to know?
I think the challenge USC will face, given Guillory’s past transgressions and given the fact that the compliance office knew enough to deny him tix, is whether they should have known.
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