By JUSTIN KENDALL
ESPN writer Dana O'Neil has a fascinating story on the not-quite-cheating-but-it-looks-bad areas of college basketball recruiting.
The story highlights the recruitment of Daniel Orton, a top-10 player who signed to play for Billy Gillispie's Kentucky Wildcats. Orton's father, Larry Orton, was paid thousands of dollars to give 16 speeches at Kentucky-sponsored summer basketball camps. Even Orton's stepbrother got paid to speak at the Kentucky camps. It's all within the gray areas of the NCAA's rules. All legal.
"Critics argue it's little more than well-couched payola done under the artifice of the rules," O'Neil writes. "By hiring Larry Orton, Kentucky basically funded Daniel's camp appearances, allowing the Wildcats to bring a top recruit on campus before he was allowed an official visit."
Kentucky wasn't the only school to play the loophole. Larry Orton was also paid to speak at a summer camp at the University of Kansas.
Kansas has long played the gray areas, hiring Ed Manning as an assistant coach in the 1980s and securing a commitment from prized recruit Danny Manning (and a National Championship).
It wasn't a one-time deal. Three years ago, Bill Self hired Ronnie Chalmers as director of basketball operations, and part of the package was a commitment from Chalmers' son, Mario Chalmers. The Jayhawks won the National Championship last year. Ronnie Chalmers resigned after his son entered the NBA Draft.
Next year's top recruit, Xavier Henry, will play for the Memphis Tigers. His brother, C.J. Henry, is already there.
"Once committed to Kansas, C.J. originally signed a professional baseball contract with the Yankees, but in what the local newspaper, The Commercial Appeal, termed a 'surprising recruiting turn,' he joined the Tigers in August as a walk-on," O'Neil writes. "He also had considered Kansas, the runner-up to Xavier's choice and alma mater of the boys' father, Carl."
Kansas State also doesn't look good. One-and-doner Michael Beasley backed out of a commitment to Charlotte to follow his AAU coach, Dalonte Hill, to K-State. Hill clearly delivered the most wanted player in the nation to Manhattan, and the university rewarded Hill with a $400,000 salary. O'Neil points out that Hill's old job as coach of the DC Assault is proving a pipeline for the Wildcats, delivering three more former DC Assault players (Jamar Samuels, Dominique Sutton and Ron Anderson) this year and two more (Wally Judge and Rodney McGruder) next year.
Comments (0)