College Sports Capsules: Commentary - Pimps? Really, Nick? What are quick-buck coaches?
Pimps?
Really, Nick?
If agents are no better than pimps, what does that make you and all those other suddenly sanctimonious college coaches who lie to kids while recruiting them in the first place?
Nick Saban took home $4 million or so last year from Alabama, which has collected more probation-worthy violations (three) than any other high-profile football program in the country over the last two decades. The SEC used to be the runaway leader in the category but was doing a pretty good job cleaning itself up.
At least until last week.
That's when a raft of accusations about players receiving "extra benefits" from an agent — beginning with a player at ACC school North Carolina — detoured quickly into SEC waters. In short order, South Carolina, Florida and Alabama all learned they were officially under suspicion by the NCAA — Georgia was added to the list Thursday — prompting the tirade from Saban at the conference's annual media days festivities.
"I don't think it's anything but greed that's creating it right now on behalf of the agents. The agents that do this — and I hate to say this, but how are they any better than a pimp?
"I have no respect for people who do that to young people. None," Saban continued. "How would you feel if they did it to your child?"
Oh, I don't know, maybe the same way some parents felt when their son came home and told them you decided not to renew his scholarship, which undoubtedly said more about the caliber of athlete he is than whether he was a good student.
Or maybe the way the parents felt when their kid came home and told them you were leaving Michigan State for LSU, then LSU for the Miami Dolphins.
And don't even get us started about leaving the Dolphins in the lurch, since you flat-out lied about leaving Miami. Loyalty can be a funny thing, no?
So spare us the lecture about how much you care. Most coaches genuinely care about their guys, Saban included, and would love to see them graduate. It makes life easier all the way around.
But the No. 1 priority for those at Saban's level is to win, and make plenty of money doing it. No one should have any illusions about that. At the very top of Division I football, everyone is using everyone — the suits who run the Bowl Championship Series, the university presidents, coaches, athletic directors and yes, those evil agents — and all of them are getting paid except for the kids.
To be fair, the kids are plenty culpable. They know the rules, and the overwhelming majority abide by them. On top of that, every big-time athletic program has at least one full-time compliance officer, and some employ as many as seven or eight. No one is forcing them to go to parties, drive cars they can't afford or take envelopes stuffed with cash.
And Saban is right in one important way about the greaseball agents and their runners. They know the temptations they're dangling could not only derail a kid's career, it could put an entire program underwater for years to come, a la Southern California after Reggie Bush.
Everyone hates agents — even scrupulous agents — unless they have one. The problem with making unscrupulous agents the villains in this drama is that just like the kids they pick off, they're only the low-hanging fruit. Considering the way college football is structured, it's nothing short of laughable to hear the coaches and conference commissioners occupying the branches above to suggest the rot could be stopped there.
Big-time college football is effectively running a minor-league system for the NFL, and they're doing it largely on the backs of kids whose football schoolwork is so demanding that many will never be able to take advantage of the scholarship that gets thrown in with it.
It's not about the scholarships, anyway. As incoming Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly noted not too long ago, both of his predecessors routinely boasted some of the best graduation rates in the nation and both got fired. But not surprising, the most honest assessment of the whole mess was uttered by Steve Spurrier.
When asked about how best to go about cleaning it up, the old ballcoach admitted he didn't have a solution, then added:
"I guess sometimes the lure of taking some cash right away affects all of us."
Perfect.
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org.
Georgia's Green says he's never been to Miami
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — A party on Miami's South Beach and sports agents were once again hot topics at the Southeastern Conference media days, with South Carolina and Georgia taking center stage on Thursday.
Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said tight end Weslye Saunders told him he did nothing wrong during his trip to South Beach; Georgia receiver A.J. Green insisted he's never even been to Miami.
The party at Club Liv in the Fontainebleau hotel in May has been the subject of investigations by the NCAA and several schools, including defending national champion Alabama and North Carolina.
Saunders "went with several players on a trip to Miami," Spurrier said Thursday. "I guess the question is, who paid for it? Who paid for what they did while they were there? When the investigation is finished, I guess we'll find out about all the guys.
"I've talked to him briefly. He told me he's done nothing wrong. We'll let it play out."
Green, coach Mark Richt and the other Georgia players were under NCAA instructions not to comment on the investigation, which was disclosed Wednesday evening.
Green, the Bulldogs' star receiver, told reporters at the media gathering that he hadn't been to Miami — ever.
Beyond that, he said: "It's not my place to comment on it, and I don't feel I need to."
Richt told reporters of investigators that "we'll see what they gather." SEC officials twice warned that Georgia representatives wouldn't talk about the probe.
Alabama is looking into Marcell Dareus' trip to the party around the time of his mother's death on May 18. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, the former Miami Dolphins coach who Wednesday compared the actions of unscrupulous agents to the behavior of a pimp, wants the NFL and the NFL Players Association to punish rogue agents with suspensions.
Spurrier, who coached the NFL's Washington Redskins, was more subdued when asked if he agreed with that.
"I think they ought to be a little bit more active and help out in that regard," he said. "As coaches we do all we can to tell our guys the rules — you can't accept anything from boosters, agents or whoever. But it's hard to watch them all the time.
"It's a little bit of a difficult situation, but sometimes you've just got to trust your players to know the rules and wait until after their final game before they take the money. If you can get through your senior year .... you can accept all the dough they want to give you. But you have to wait until your eligibility is over. That's what we all try to teach our guys."
Arkansas' Bobby Petrino, a former Atlanta Falcons coach, said it was "wishful thinking" that the players association and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell can solve the problem for the college ranks.
"We have to worry about what we can control, our education, our continuing to work on the decision making, the understanding of what's right and what's wrong, not try to think that somebody else is going to handle it for us," Petrino said.
NFLPA assistant executive director George Atallah said Wednesday the group takes "violations of NFLPA rules by agents seriously and investigate them vigilantly. This situation is no different."
Tennessee coach Derek Dooley couldn't avoid the question Thursday night at a stop in Nashville, Tenn., on his way to SEC media days. The former Saban assistant laughed when asked about the pimp comment and said Saban made some great points about groups trying to influence young people the wrong way.
"There are coaches that do the same thing in recruiting and that is not right either. Bad is always out there. I don't care where you go, you are not going to eliminate bad. The only way to do it is to have responsibility for how you act and then you won't have those problems," Dooley said.
Meanwhile, teammates of Saunders voiced their support but shed little light on the trip.
"I really don't know what's going on except what people are reporting," Gamecocks linebacker Shaq Wilson said. "He's been working his butt off. He's been in there every day working out. He's a model student-athlete and I think he's a great person. I support him."
"We're just hoping for the best for Weslye," added fullback Patrick DiMarco. "He's in a tough situation right now."
Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett, a fourth-year junior who was eligible for the draft after last season, said his policy with agents is to avoid them.
"Obviously as a college athlete you've got to be aware of who you're around at all times," Mallett said. "I'm not talking to any agents at this time. If they contact me, I tell them if I'm going to go to the NFL, I'll talk to them after the season.
"That's how I'm doing it, because I don't want to have to deal with any of the stuff that's going on."
Arkansas is among the SEC schools employing consultant Joe Mendes to help players and their families in dealing with agents.
Outside the SEC, the NCAA is investigating North Carolina players Marvin Austin and Greg Little regarding alleged improper benefits from agents, a person with knowledge of the probe has told AP.
North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said her office has begun an investigation about potential misconduct involving agents and two Tar Heels.
"It's probably got to be a federal issue because it's one of those things that cross state lines," said Duke coach David Cutcliffe, a former Mississippi head coach and Tennessee assistant. "It's not a North Carolina problem, obviously, and it's rampant through the country.
"We've seen it on the West Coast raise its ugly head just recently (at Southern California), and I've been in the Southeastern Conference for a long time. You're constantly looking for those signs. You see these people hanging around outside your gate after a game. After doing it for 30 years, you start figuring out who they are. It's something you'd like to see authorities — legal authorities — help us where there's a problem. It's bigger than the NCAA can manage."
At Georgia Tech, quarterback Joshua Nesbitt said he doesn't agree with college players taking money from agents, but he can understand why some might be tempted to do it.
"Overall, I think it's a bad thing to accept money when it's not your job to play," Nesbitt said. "But you don't know everybody else's situation. Their back might be against the wall and that's their last leg. Who's to say they're wrong."
-- John Zenor
Tar Heels' Davis caught off-guard by NCAA probe
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina coach Butch Davis says an NCAA probe into potential rule violations in his football program came "out of left field."
In his first public comments on the investigation, Davis said Thursday the school is cooperating with the NCAA and that his program follows its rules.
A person familiar with the investigation says the NCAA is looking into whether two seniors received improper benefits from agents. Defensive tackle Marvin Austin and receiver Greg Little are the focus of the probe, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is confidential.
Davis refused to answer specific questions about the case, saying that the NCAA instructed the school to limit its public comments.
"It certainly kind of came out of left field," Davis said after a luncheon featuring area coaches. "I don't think anybody speculated any of this stuff was going to potentially happen. But it is what it is. ... Our players were unbelievably cooperative and we'll get through this as quickly as possible."
The probe became public about a week ago after NCAA investigators visited the campus in Chapel Hill. It has been part of a series of similar investigations at defending national champion Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
"I know we take a great deal of pride in doing things ethically, honestly," Davis said. "I know the feedback that we've gotten is we're doing everything we can to educate our young people about all kinds of things that have to do with collegiate athletics."
The probe has also prompted the North Carolina Secretary of State's office to begin its own investigation about potential misconduct involving agents. The state requires sports agents to register in North Carolina and prohibits them from offering gifts before a contract is signed.
Violations of North Carolina's agent laws can lead to criminal or civil penalties.
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall has assigned three investigators and said her office has put out notices asking people not to destroy evidence or documents. She said the office can't punish athletes, but plans to talk to them about their conduct.
"We are focusing on athlete agents and anybody who gave these young people things of value — such as trips or parties or food, women, whatever it might be," she said.
Davis briefly referenced the NCAA investigation when addressing the audience at the preseason football luncheon, which also featured Duke coach David Cutcliffe, East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill, North Carolina Central coach Mose Rison and North Carolina State coach Tom O'Brien. It even offered a moment of levity after McNeill — who is preparing for his first season in Greenville after Skip Holtz left for South Florida — compared the past few months to a whirlwind.
"You think Ruffin would like to trade whirlwinds?" Davis quipped, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Still, the NCAA investigation couldn't come at a worse time for Davis, who is preparing for his fourth season in Chapel Hill. He has guided the program to consecutive eight-win seasons, which includes the program's first back-to-back bowl seasons since the late 1990s when Mack Brown left for Texas.
The Tar Heels are expected to contend for the ACC's Coastal Division title behind a defense that returns nine starters from a unit that ranked among the nation's best last year. Austin — a 6-foot-3, 310-pound tackle — was projected as a high draft pick before opting to return to school for his final season instead of heading to the NFL.
Little became the team's top receiver last season, coming up with 20 catches for 315 yards and two touchdowns in the final three games. He finished with a team best 62 catches for 724 yards and five scores.
Losing either — let alone, both — would be a blow for the Tar Heels as they prepare for their opener against LSU in Atlanta on Sept. 4.
Davis said his staff has done everything it can to instruct its players on what is permissible.
"It's no different than being a parent," he said. "You can teach your children, you can talk to them, and lessons that aren't learned, you continue to teach those lessons. We've got good kids at North Carolina. ... We're going to continue to work hard to do everything right."
-- Aaron Beard
Petrino, Mallett embracing high expectations
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — The Arkansas media guide features an intense-looking Ryan Mallett clutching the ball with the words "Get Ready" looming over his right shoulder.
It's good advice for both the Razorbacks quarterback and a team facing higher-than-usual expectations.
"We're embracing the expectations," coach Bobby Petrino said Thursday at Southeastern Conference media days. "I think that's a good thing. When you have high expectations, it means that you played good football at the end of the year last year and you have a lot of returning players coming back."
He said he wants the players and coaches to be motivated by, not shy away from, Top 25 projections in preseason publications.
Much of that attention revolves around Mallett's powerful right arm after he returned for his senior season instead of leaving early for the NFL. He led the Razorbacks to five wins in their final six games last season despite a defense that ranked last in the league.
"Especially in the state of Arkansas, expectations are really high," Mallett said. "We have even higher expectations of ourselves as a team."
The preseason buzz is similar to what Mississippi and another quarterback transfer, Jevan Snead, faced before last season. Both had a disappointing season and Snead went undrafted after skipping his senior year.
Petrino said he won't use that outcome as a cautionary tale for his team.
"I think that's why you're in this profession, is you want to have people think that you're gonna be good," he said. "You want our players to understand we have an opportunity to be good, and our coaches to really be driven by that."
Mallett posted the third-highest pass efficiency rating in SEC history (152.5) last year in Petrino's prolific offense. He's got his top targets returning, led by Greg Childs, Jarius Wright, Joe Adams and tight end D.J. Williams.
"It's scary preparing for Arkansas," said Georgia coach Mark Richt, who faces the Razorbacks on Sept. 18. "Coach Petrino, first of all, knows what he's doing. He's got a tremendous amount of skill coming back. When you have Ryan Mallett coming back and all of his skill players coming back, it's just going to be very, very difficult.
"They're going to be better."
Mallett said he will be ready to go when fall camp begins in two weeks. He missed spring after breaking a bone in his left foot in February. Petrino said Mallett started throwing a few weeks ago.
He's still getting most of his conditioning from swimming until he's cleared to run.
"I feel like I'm going to try out for the Olympics," he joked.
His teammates take in stride all the attention being directed toward Mallett.
As for the one-man media guide cover: "He's going to tell you he hates that, but he's loved every second of it," Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette said. "He deserves it, he's the star, he's going to be a great quarterback for us."
-- John Zenor
SEC Notebook: Vandy's Caldwell entertains at SEC event
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Robbie Caldwell spun yarns about his days as a "turkey inseminator" and joked about being so anonymous he got a tip for opening a restaurant door for a guy Wednesday evening.
"Oh man, I got a dollar and a half," Vanderbilt's new interim coach said gleefully.
Caldwell, who was promoted after Bobby Johnson retired on July 14, entertained a room full of sportswriters Thursday at Southeastern Conference media days, even drawing applause from much of the room when he was done. The folksy sense of humor could come in handy this season with a team that didn't win a league game last season and hasn't had a winning SEC mark since 1982.
A few highlights from the 56-year-old's media days debut:
— "I'm thrilled to have the opportunity. I told my wife, if it's two days or 20 years, I will now be able to say, 'Hey, I was a head coach one time' — other than in 1977 when I was head (high school) baseball coach. We were pretty good, by the way. We were 14-2, had a chance, made the playoff."
— He's worked pouring concrete, farming and as a pipefitter. Then, there's the turkey farm. "I don't know if I could tell you what my job was, but I was on the inseminating crew. That's a fact. I worked my way to the top."
— Asked if he would continue Johnson's profanity ban: "You know, I'm no angel, that's for certain. We certainly do try to live by that. But you know it's just a sign of limited vocabulary sometimes. I know y'all can't tell it, but I do have an education."
Caldwell was enough of a hit that South Carolina's Steve Spurrier was even asked if he had lost his title as the league's "most quotable coach."
"No, I'm not worried about that at all," Spurrier said. "I don't think I've won enough games lately to have any outlandish quotes."
GEORGIA'S YOUNG QB: Georgia coach Mark Richt knows redshirt freshman quarterback Aaron Murray is good at answering any question fired his way in the meeting room.
"But we've got to be careful, coach (Mike) Bobo and myself, not to get enamored with that and expect him to be able to answer the question quite so well as he's on the field getting chased by a bunch of 300-pound defensive linemen," Richt said. "He's got to live the experience of being that quarterback."
Murray enrolled in January 2009 and has been through two spring practices. He emerged from spring as the No. 1 quarterback, and has the benefit of some proven players surrounding him on offense.
"They respect this kid because he prepares, because he puts the team first, because he has talent," Richt said.
Fullback Shaun Chapas called Murray "one of the hardest workers we've got." Murray was a prep All-American at Plant High School in Tampa, Fla., and was rated the third-best quarterback in the country by Rivals.com and Scout.com.
"We've got 10 guys surrounding him who have all been there and thrown into the fire," Chapas said. "When he's in the huddle, he has command of the huddle. We believe in him and I know he believes in himself."
GAMECOCKS HOPES: Spurrier figures the baseball team's national title proves South Carolina can indeed compete for, and win, championships.
"Hopefully we believe that will rub off on other teams, and we're the next one up," Spurrier said.
It's something to hold onto as he tries to take the Gamecocks from a team that is averaging a respectable seven wins a year during his tenure to one that is contending in the powerful SEC East.
Fullback Patrick DiMarco also said the football team wants to add to the baseball success.
"I got some text messages saying it's our turn now," DiMarco said. "It's true. They stepped it up and did something, and now it's time for us to do something."
Spurrier knows that doesn't mean it's going to happen. He remembers too well South Carolina's last trip to Birmingham, when Connecticut beat the Gamecocks 20-7 in the PapaJohns.com Bowl.
"UConn beat us soundly," Spurrier said. "We haven't forgotten that. Until we prove we can play on a consistent basis, we've just got hope. We've got to go earn our way to believing that we can be a top SEC team."
QUOTABLE: "I still have two years of eligibility left. I'm an Arkansas Razorback. All that stuff comes after."
Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett when asked if he was treating his junior season as if he's an NFL-bound senior.
-- John Zenor
Miami-Notre Dame to renew rivalry
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami and Notre Dame have agreed to renew a football rivalry that during the 1980s helped define each program and decide several national championships.
The Hurricanes and Fighting Irish will play Oct. 6, 2012, at Soldier Field in Chicago, then play a home-and-home starting in 2016 at South Bend, Ind. They play in Miami the next season.
The rivalry dates to the 1950s and Notre Dame leads the series 15-7-1.
But it was during the 1980s, when Miami became a national power, that the rivalry got interesting.
In 1985, Miami embarrassed Notre Dame 58-7 in Jerry Faust's last game as coach of the Fighting Irish.
Faust was replaced by Lou Holtz. Soon after Notre Dame was a national title contender again and the Miami-Notre Dame game was routinely one of the biggest of the season.
Miami won three national championships in the 1980s and beat Notre Dame during the regular season each time. Notre Dame beat Miami in 1988, when the Irish won their last national title, and in 1990.
The tense and at times nasty series was dubbed Catholics vs. Convicts by some Notre Dame supporters.
The 1988 game was marked by a pregame shoving match and the next season the teams nearly squared off at midfield before the coin toss.
After the 29-20 victory by the Irish in 1990 — which knocked Miami out of the national title hunt and helped Notre Dame go the Orange Bowl with a chance to win another championship — the series was stopped.
Vols visit alumni, prep for questions about brawl
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The reputation for Tennessee football has been ugly since a bar brawl two weeks ago, and the Volunteers are on the road, trying to fix that perception.
Two weeks after several Vols were involved in the fight near the campus in Knoxville, coach Derek Dooley and several of his players talked to reporters before a University of Tennessee Alumni Association picnic. The Vols knew this was just a dress rehearsal for questions bound to come their way Friday as the Southeastern Conference wraps up media days in Hoover, Ala.
"It is something that we are going to have to address, we can't run from it," defensive end Chris Walker said. "We've embarrassed a bunch of people. If we win games people won't talk about it as much, but we also have to do things off the field to show people we're not these thugs that they see on TV."
The incident involved at least six players and resulted in the dismissal of defensive back Darren Myles Jr. and suspension of linebacker Greg King and defensive tackle Marlon Walls.
"We were embarrassed by it," Dooley said. "But I think an incident like that, you have to learn from it, move on, never forget it and let it always be a reminder of what we represent and the institution we represent and how much harm we can bring. That's the best way we know how to approach it and that's how we've done it with our team."
Huskers' Osborne to be at Big Ten session
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska isn't waiting until next year to get involved in the Big Ten.
Athletic director Tom Osborne will be at the league's preseason meetings in Chicago early next month. Associate athletic director Marc Boehm says the former football coach will be able to provide input, but won't have a vote along with the other athletic directors until July 1, 2011.
The Huskers will leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten after this season in one of the biggest moves of the offseason realignment.
Big Ten officials are expected to discuss schedules and whether the football teams should be divided into six-team divisions.
Heralded recruit Shirley gets second Pac-10 chance
SEATTLE (AP) — Washington has signed former UCLA recruit Josh Shirley.
The Bruins released the heralded linebacker from his letter of intent to play for them after he was arrested for investigation of stealing a purse.
Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday the freshman from Fontana, Calif., has signed a financial-aid agreement and will join the team when players report for preseason camp on Aug. 8.
Sarkisian says he and Washington officials "have done our due diligence."
Some scouting services had rated the star at Kaiser High School among the top 10 outside linebacker recruits in the nation.
BYU assistant Lamb retires
PROVO, Utah (AP) — BYU assistant football coach Barry Lamb is retiring after 16 seasons with the Cougars.
Coach Bronco Mendenhall announced Lamb's retirement in a statement Thursday and said graduate assistant Nick Howell will replace Lamb on the staff.
Lamb coached BYU's outside linebackers and also coached at six other schools in his 33-year career. He took a leave of absence in March for health-related reasons.
Howell has been a graduate assistant on Mendenhall's staff the last three seasons. He has been coaching outside linebackers while Lamb was on leave.
UCLA guard Hasiak won't play this season
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Offensive guard Stanley Hasiak won't play for UCLA this season because he failed to meet NCAA academic eligibility requirements.
Coach Rick Neuheisel says Hasiak will help on the scout team this season. Hasiak will have three seasons of eligibility remaining, and can count this year as a redshirt season.
Men's Basketball
Memphis self-reports secondary violation to NCAA
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis has self-reported a secondary NCAA violation over coach Josh Pastner's attendance at a summer league game last week where Minnesota forward Trevor Mbakwe was playing.
The junior is considering transferring to Memphis and has made an official visit there.
Memphis spokesman Lamar Chance confirmed Thursday to The Associated Press the school had reported the secondary violation to the NCAA.
Pastner was in Minnesota for an AAU tournament and stopped by Mbakwe's summer league game after Memphis' compliance office told him by e-mail he could. University officials later learned NCAA coaches are not allowed to attend such games.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported the violation first Wednesday night. Minnesota coach Tubby Smith told the newspaper it was a "misunderstanding."
Women's Basketball
Colorado's Barry to chair NCAA women's committee
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ceal Barry, associate athletic director at Colorado, has been chosen to chair the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Issues Committee for the coming year.
The appointment was made by the committee and confirmed by the NCAA Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet on Thursday. Barry, in her fourth year as a committee member, will succeed North Caroilina's Janet Cone, who has chaired the committee since 2006.
Barry, the winningest coach in Colorado history, retired as women's basketball coach in 2005 after 22 seasons. She won 427 of her 669 games, qualified for 12 NCAA tournaments and reached the quarterfinals three times.
