Link: NCAA eyes booster's claims Miami players took cash

[rickvox79]

This is way more than internet bluffing. There are photos and corroborating eyewitness accounts to back up much of the story.

Yeah, Miami is toast...SI was probably right back in 1994 when they had that cover saying that they should end their football program.

 

[NationalTitles18]

I don't see how the U survives. With the pattern of infractions this will go back into the repeat offender window and show a flagrant disregard for the rules. If they are still playing football in 2 years I'll be surprised.

 

[theBIGyowski]

So...if I am reading this right...there is no way this is the "10" story.



This is more like a 78 or something.

 

[Skeeterpop]

Are you seriously comparing this to the menswear incident?

Absolutely Not! Only that kids everywhere keep making bad choices.

 

[Hamilton]

True to a certain degree, but he had to do a hours of corroboration, interviewing, paper trail review, follow up phone calls, etc. A hack might have just sat down with the guy and reported what the guy said and not done any further investigation, just lobbed the accusations out there. Robinson didn't do that. It's organized and well-reported. It's obvious he did his job, and in this day of internet "reporting" and rumor-mongering, it's refreshing to see.

I agree somewhat. I guess I'm just not that impressed by the whole thing. Did it really take this long to develop the story when the primary player in it was practically providing videos of himself holding the daily newspaper while partaking in the damning acts, each day they occurred?

I'm glad he wrote the story, no doubt--I hate Miami. But the whole thing is a big let down if OSU was a 6 (OSU seems bigger than this to me because they are actually a big time program AND it involved the HEAD coach being caught in an outright lie).

Except there's no indication that they recieved anything of value, meaning that all they really did was sign autographs for a guy who later used the autographed stuff to promote his business and was told by UA to stop doing so. There's no evidence that anything else happened, and there's no logical reason why there has to be anything more.

Let me put it this way:

It's very hard for me to believe that Cecil Newton, a man who lives in Georgia and previously allowed Cam to sign with Florida, asked Mississippi State for money but later sent him to Auburn for free. It's pretty easy for me to believe that a UA player took two minutes to sign autographs without expecting anything in return.

I'm not really sure why this entered the discussion on this particular thread (I know you're responding), but I will say that multiple pictures of multiple players at multiple restaurants with this Al-Betar guy are troublesome...circumstantial evidence or not, they just don't look good.

 

[TheRealPokeChop]

Scarbinski would like us all to know that Miami's accusations are somehow UA's fault and that Bama should have seen this coming and he'll be on his way to investigate the nothing going on in Tuscaloosa while ignoring the NCAA investigation in Lee County.

Seriously though he would like to get some attention in all this.

 

[WMack4Bama]

AND now my main man Uncle Luke chimes in with this: "Every Miami fan should send a letter to Shapiro's prison warden & insist he remain in general population."

Link here [deleted link because of profanity in the article. You'll just have to take my word for it..Or make Google your friend]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH...I love Luke. We have some mutual friends. From my perspective, his comments don't carry the type of malice that someone who's unfamiliar with him may take it to mean. And after all, what good does writing the warden do? I knew it wouldn't be long. Oh..and he has some other not so nice things to say about Mr. Shapiro, especially since Shapiro dubbed himself as "Little Luke". Luther took umbrage with that..

Here's a very interesting quote from Luke's article

He was all about himself. Shapiro wanted to use me like he was using the UM players and other celebrity athletes he courted. I knew to stay away from him. So did Randy Shannon, who warned all his assistants that if he caught them with Shapiro, he would fire them. Randy hated that beady-eyed defamer. Surprisingly, Shannon's name was conspicuously absent in Yahoo's breathtaking 11-month investigation.

Gonna be interesting to see how some of the other guys associated with Miami athletics give their spin on this..especially those who have their own shows like Mike Irvin and Warren Sapp as well as those who have a knack for getting behind the mic like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

 

[rizolltizide]

Gonna be interesting to see how some of the other guys associated with Miami athletics give their spin on this..especially those who have their own shows like Mike Irvin and Warren Sapp as well as those who have a knack for getting behind the mic like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

I'm guessing more denial of involvement and the usual amount of stupidity you always hear from them.

What was funny to me as I drove in to work this morning listening to Bill King, he made the statement that Miami fans don't deserve this. Heh. They absolutely deserve every bit of it and more. And your boy Luke probably ought to be in the joint with him.
/.02

 

[Tide Warrior]

The U is screwed and as AT pointed out the reporter did this right. Unlike the AU drama where more speculation than fact was written because they jumped the gun to get people reading. This U stuff gives the NCAA their investigation gift wrapped. They should pay him for doing their work.

The only thing that bothers me is all the Barn fans that are accusing UA now on their boards of illegally recruiting Cyrus K, because he was considering Miami while Stoutland recruited him there. Its not like his brother was already here and the family loves UA long before Cyrus came here. A bunch of idiots over there. I think they still forget they are still under investigation themselves.

 

[CrimsonCarl]

He just dropped another bomb that I didn't see in the article. He said Shapiro tried to pick a fist fight in the press box with the COMPLIANCE DIRECTOR in plain sight of everyone and he was never called to the carpet on this. WOW!

That's mentioned in Dan Wetzel's companion piece, which is also a good read

 

[DC Tide]

The only thing that bothers me is all the Barn fans that are accusing UA now on their boards of illegally recruiting Cyrus K, because he was considering Miami while Stoutland recruited him there. Its not like his brother was already here and the family loves UA long before Cyrus came here. A bunch of idiots over there. I think they still forget they are still under investigation themselves.

It makes me sick to read stuff like that but, in some ways, I cannot blame rival fans for drawing inferences. We'd likely do the same.

If Yahoo just exploded a nuclear bomb in Miami, then Stoutland, Pannunzio, and other former Canes coaches are absolutely radioactive. They may not be in reality (though that has to be a legitmate worry), then at the very least they are in the court of public opinion. None of us want to go through another early 2000s experience again ... so anything that draws additional scrutiny from the NCAA is absolutely not welcome. It's just not worth it.

Alabama's enforcement staff has seemingly done a great job in keeping out in front of problems. I pray that they're doing the same with Stoutland and Pannunzio. We don't want to see our hard-earned new reputation as a play-it-by-the-rules team to crumble.

 

[CrimsonCarl]

Alabama's enforcement staff has seemingly done a great job in keeping out in front of problems. I pray that they're doing the same with Stoutland and Pannunzio. We don't want to see our hard-earned new reputation as a play-it-by-the-rules team to crumble.

I'm confident that they are, but out of an abundance of caution, I hope they're limiting their contact with recruits until it all shakes out

 

[Dallas4Bama]

If all of this bears out as being true and validated by evidence (which, at first glance, it appears to be), the writer needs to teach all other supposed "sports journalists" how to investigate, corroborate, and report on sports. He took his time and did his homework and laid it all out there for the world to see. Nicely done.

How about just journalist in general? It's hard to read anything anymore that you don't later find out was either terribly slanted or incorrect.

 

[Crimson Speed]

Yahoo just exploded a nuclear bomb in Miami, then Stoutland, Pannunzio, and other former Canes coaches are absolutely radioactive. They may not be in reality (though that has to be a legitmate worry), then at the very least they are in the court of public opinion. None of us want to go through another early 2000s experience again ... so anything that draws additional scrutiny from the NCAA is absolutely not welcome. It's just not worth it.

Alabama's enforcement staff has seemingly done a great job in keeping out in front of problems. I pray that they're doing the same with Stoutland and Pannunzio. We don't want to see our hard-earned new reputation as a play-it-by-the-rules team to crumble.

I agree with you. Both Stoutland and Pannunzio are, in my opinion, in deep trouble so far as their future goes with UA. With this level of corruption going on at U, there is no way they can claim they were not involved or were not aware. It is not always fair to all the coaches in a program, but whether they like it or not, they are guilty by association. Any coach that stayed there for more than one year had to know what was going on and should have gracefully departed for other opportunities before becoming a part of the corruption.

I don't have any inside information relative to UA's interview process for prospective coaches. But, rest assurred, they are questioned as to their history of compliance to NCAA rules. Further, I would be shocked if their contract did not include a clause stating they never knowlingly violated rules at previous institutions. I'm not saying they would admit to any history of violations, but this would give UA "just cause" to send them packing. Bama does not need this baggage and MM and NS will do what is necessary to protect the university.

 

[CrimsonCarl]

Further, I would be shocked if their contract did not include a clause stating they never knowlingly violated rules at previous institutions. I'm not saying they would admit to any history of violations, but this would give UA "just cause" to send them packing. Bama does not need this baggage and MM and NS will do what is necessary to protect the university.

Mike Ermert, who is a Birmingham attorney who deals with NCAA issues, was on JOX this morning, and said that this type of clause is now "boilerplate" in every asst coach's contract

 

[GreatMarch]

I may be wrong on this, but I seem to recall Pannunzio getting in a little trouble with our compliance dept when he first came to UA. I cannot recall if there was something to do with text to recruits while he was at Miami or after he got to UA. I seem to remember that he lost access to recruits on visits to campus and had his cell phone taken away by the AD. Am I wrong on that? My memory is getting bad.

 

[Airborne Tider]

It makes me sick to read stuff like that but, in some ways, I cannot blame rival fans for drawing inferences. We'd likely do the same.

If Yahoo just exploded a nuclear bomb in Miami, then Stoutland, Pannunzio, and other former Canes coaches are absolutely radioactive. They may not be in reality (though that has to be a legitmate worry), then at the very least they are in the court of public opinion. None of us want to go through another early 2000s experience again ... so anything that draws additional scrutiny from the NCAA is absolutely not welcome. It's just not worth it.

Alabama's enforcement staff has seemingly done a great job in keeping out in front of problems. I pray that they're doing the same with Stoutland and Pannunzio. We don't want to see our hard-earned new reputation as a play-it-by-the-rules team to crumble.

We could make many assumptions about the Barn in this. Go check out Auburn's roster and see how many players they've signed from South Florida. Most of which were recruited by UM as well. Why would a kid from Miami, being offered these benefits, go to Auburn for free? See what I did there?

 

[Crimson Cat]

We could make many assumptions about the Barn in this. Go check out Auburn's roster and see how many players they've signed from South Florida. Most of which were recruited by UM as well. Why would a kid from Miami, being offered these benefits, go to Auburn for free? See what I did there?

Isn't Corey Lemonier a player from that area? He had an impressive offer list which included Miami as well, I believe...not familiar with some of the others but I think they have several on the roster from south Florida.

 

[AlexanderFan]

Isn't Corey Lemonier a player from that area? He had an impressive offer list which included Miami as well, I believe...not familiar with some of the others but I think they have several on the roster from south Florida.

I guess that's where the pic of him in the Corvette came from....thus game is fun. All joking aside what's to keep a recruit from taking improper benefits from one school and going to another? Nothing, that's what.

 

[CrimsonCarl]

Isn't Corey Lemonier a player from that area? He had an impressive offer list which included Miami as well, I believe...not familiar with some of the others but I think they have several on the roster from south Florida.

And IIRC, he was all but enrolled at FSU until a last minute visit to the barn w/o his parents. Sound familiar? Please correct me if I'm wrong, my memory isn't always what it once was.