blogs: Billy Reed's Blog 

Well, that didn't take long, did it? Even before the University of Kentucky basketball team has lined up for its first exhibition game, we already have questions about prized recruit John Wall's academic eligibility. At the Southeastern Conference Basketball Media Days, just after UK Coach John Calipari had met the media and left the building, league commissioner Mike Slive confirmed an ESPN.com report that the NCAA is examining the eligibility status of Wall and Mississippi State freshman Renardo Sidney. Slive was quick to point out that the NCAA did not have problems with either UK or Mississippi State. The problems, if any, occurred while both players were in the recruiting business and had not made commitments. Stop me if you've heard this before, but an AAU coach is involved. In Wall's case, it's Brian Clifton, the president of D-One Sports, a North Carolina-based AAU program. It seems that Clifton spent some time as an agent registered with FIBA, basketball's international governing body. He gave up his license and allegedly got out of that business so he could focus more on the business of D-One Sports, but the question is whether he provided Wall with any benefits while he was still an agent. If, for example, he paid for Wall to make an unofficial visit to UK while still an agent, then Wall could be ruled ineligible. If he supplied benefits less than $101, the sanctions would be much lighter. And if he did nothing, well, Wall is good to go -- at least for the time being. It's instructive to remember that the NCAA's so-called “clearinghouse” gave Derrick Rose a clean bill of health to play for Calipari at Memphis, but then hammered the university when it learned, after Rose had led the Tigers to the 2008 NCAA title game, that he apparently had cheated on his college entrance exam. A few thoughts about the Wall case: 1. I'm glad this is being explored now instead of sometime after Wall makes his debut with the Big Blue. The spectre of forfeiting games for using an ineligible player is unthinkable. 2. In the cesspool that is basketball recruiting, it must be understood that if you're going to recruit players of Wall's caliber, you can't be surprised when problems like this one arise. These young men have come under the influence of so many “outsiders” and parasites along the recruiting trail that it's impossible to tell what might have been done for them and who did it. 3. It is clear that Calipari, with the full support of the Big Blue fan base, is willing to roll the dice on the “one-and-done” type of recruits even though they are college students in name only and have absolutely no desire to go to class or get a degree. Fair enough. But it must be understood that if and when problems develop, the old “I-didn't-know” excuse isn't going to fly. That was Calipari's plea when problems arose at both UMass and Memphis. It will not fly if similar problems arise at UK. 4. At some point, the NCAA is going to have to find a way to run the agents out of basketball. Whether it's an AAU coach like Clifton or a mysterious flesh-peddler like “Worldwide Wes,” these guys have far too much influence over the most talented recruits – far more, in some cases, that their high school coaches or even their parents. Typically, everybody in the UK athletics department bunkered up when the news about Wall broke. Whenever there's trouble, whether it's about Billy Clyde Gillispie or a player accused of rape, UK hangs out the “No comment” sign and leaves everybody hanging. That's something else that needs to be changed. It should be incumbent upon a public institution of higher education to honor the concepts of transparency and accountability to its students, supporters, and the media.

ADD A COMMENT

	rob   fri oct 23 2009 at 3:48 pm         ·  Didn't see this one coming!
	christopher hall   fri oct 23 2009 at 3:53 pm         ·  Coach Cal's ready to take that next step. He's been to the championship game, but maybe UK can become the first school ever to have to vacate a national title. Gooo Cats!
	♥jaybeeM   fri oct 23 2009 at 4:21 pm         ·  Pat Forde in all his glory... Booooo.
	ThinkingMan   fri oct 23 2009 at 4:28 pm         ·  Hey Billy, Who was the coach at UK when John Wall took a visit with his AAU coach? TIA!
	ghengis pawn   fri oct 23 2009 at 5:42 pm         ·  ^^ uh what does Rick or Cal have to do with this? Wake up, its about Wall and an AAU coach. If anyone is scum it's the AAU coaches of the game trying to buddy up with top basketball recruits.
	JOHN RYAN #310026   fri oct 23 2009 at 7:09 pm         ·  Well at least Coach Cal isn't trying to screw women behind his wife's back and the players are not being arrested by police.If this is all they have that Wall got some money from someone they should drop it. Everyone knows that everybody cheats .Just try not to get caught.We will hang another banner with in the next 3 years so fear our future.Quit being so jealous of the UK program.
	Chef Adam   fri oct 23 2009 at 9:17 pm         ·  Calapari is scum and will have this happen all the time while at UK. One and done players bring this on themselves a lot of times. Without John Wall UK will drop out of the top 10.
	UKFanatic   fri oct 23 2009 at 10:11 pm         ·  hey before you write an article, why dont you make sure atleast your first paragraph is correct. This case has nothing to do with Wall's "academic eligibility". And his AAU coach never had a client, he just had the liscense that he gave up 2 years ago. This is just the first of many times people will try to hold UK and Cal down. Good luck. Hope Pat Forde and all the other UK haters have a front row seat for when we hang #8.
	Bill Calvert #53056   sat oct 24 2009 at 6:45 pm         ·  This is not a big deal, and has nothing to do with Calipari. 3 games at most. Quit hatin.
	Woody Moore #3651   sun oct 25 2009 at 9:45 am         ·  I know UK is as big as it gets in college basketball, and even though Calipari doesn't need to cheat to win there he will its his way. Kids today are what have you done for me lately and the only reason these talented freshman are there is because of the coach not the name on the jersey. No matter how much the fans want to believe nothing will happen its going to be a train wreck.
	Who Dat?   sun oct 25 2009 at 1:46 pm         ·  They don't call there home court corrupt arena for no reason.
	~Right Here~   sun oct 25 2009 at 11:20 pm         ·  All u guys out there hating on UK are just jealous, beacause we didnt make the NCAA Tourn last yr and we changed coaches and are already predicted to win the sec title and are Ranked in the top 10. Not Coach Cals fault anyways so quit hatin. BIG BLUE DOMINATION will ALWAYS be around..Just LIVE with it...
	(dismembered)   mon oct 26 2009 at 5:22 am         ·  UK fans make my head hurt. Have fun winning the South East crapfest, but you will NOT win a national title this year.
	punditarod   mon oct 26 2009 at 1:58 pm         ·  Coach Cal means Big Success, Big Downfall. (Probably after he's moved on, but who knows, maybe the guy's kicked it up a notch.)