Bumped - P

Since the Nevin Shapiro story broke, Paul Dee has adamantly denied having any knowledge that Shapiro was providing benefits to Miami players:

"He didn't do anything to cause concern," Dee said. "In terms of kids getting close to him or him getting close to the kids, I have no knowledge of that and my staff had no knowledge of that."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-miami-ncaa-turmoil-20110818,0,599068.story

Jim Tressel said the same thing...at first. But we now know that Tressel was tipped off about potential violations involving at least two of his star players. And then Tressel chose to "get right on it". It would be a inaccurate to say that Tressel did nothing. Quite the opposite. Tressel took quick and decisive action to effectively put an end to it. He notified at least one other person, Pyror's mentor Ted Sarniak, for the purpose putting an end to it. And, as far as we know, his actions were effective. Pryor and his teammates stopped going to Fine Line Ink Tattoos to hock their possessions, memorabilia, and stolen athletic gear. If not for an undercover investigation of Ed Rife, this information would still be soaking in a gutter somewhere...which is why I was curious that Paul admitted to the following:

Dee, who was AD until 2008, said whenever he got "word from the street’’ that Hurricane players were hanging out in the wrong places, he tried to put a stop to it. When he heard football players were visiting Club Rolexx, a North Miami strip club, he sent someone to check and the Canes were prohibited from going back.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/20/2367230_former-canes-ad-paul-dee-shapiro.html#storylink=addthis

Two things jump out at me. First, there is a strong implication that Dee was privy to the "word on the street" on more than one occasion. Second, that Paul Dee was quite satisfied, perhaps even proud, that he was able to quietly put an end to it. Problem is, that's not the primary responsibility of an AD who is has been informed of possible violations. Is going to a strip club a violation? No. But it's not cheap either. A bunch of college football players regularly "hanging out" in a strip club 30 minutes from campus should scream possible violations to anyone in authority who is responsible to detect violations...who is responsible to monitor and maintain institutional control. Per NCAA policy, it's not enough to just sweep suspicious stuff under the rug; it should be thoroughly investigated.

And if that above 'example' is accurate, Dee did investigate it...enough to confirm that it was something he should put an end to. But did Dee ask: How much money are these guys were dropping? Who was paying for it? If he had asked these questions, he might have uncovered violations. I'd be amazed if he didn't. He might even have uncovered that Shapiro was involved in these specific violations. If this is how Miami investigated possible violations...check just enough to determine if the activity needed to be stopped...then is it any wonder that Nevin Shapiro provided millions of dollars of benefits to 72 players and numerous football coaches over a 9 year period, and signed players to an agency he owned on the side, without ever being questioned by Miami administration! Unfortunately for Miami, sometimes the "word on the street" requires responsible investigation and action. But of course, Paul Dee knew that...had explained it many times before to schools who had appeared before the COI.

The NCAA should be interested in exactly what types of suspicious activity was reported to the administration under Dee's watch, and how it was handled. Generally, such type of information is easily concealed from a body like the NCAA. Hopefully, Paul Dee will keep giving interviews that describe how things really functioned when he was the AD at Miami...and give the NCAA the rope it needs to hang his putrid fat ass.