After an explosive Friday in college basketball things have settled down at Kentucky and other programs mentioned in the Yahoo! Sports report released last week.
Arizona has had there fair share of headaches over the weekend but the majority of the other programs that were implicated or had players mentioned have seemingly moved on while they conduct internal investigations.
Kentucky had two former players (Nerlens Noel and Bam Adebayo) mentioned and one current player (Kevin Knox). Knox played on Saturday and finished with a game-high 21 points. Knox wouldn't offer comment after the game, which would be expected from a teenager mentioned in one of the biggest college basketball scandals in NCAA history.
While Knox won't go public, here's the latest with UK Basketball and what to expect moving forward.
Bob Queen/USA Today
Overview: There isn't a panic in Lexington. This was a wake-up call to some folks behind the scene but I'm told that John Calipari was not surprised by any of the news that broke on Friday. While that was what I was told, I was also told that he didn't expect to see Kevin Knox's name, but isn't concerned about that. Just a few sentences into the Insider Notes and I've contradicted myself, but hopefully it will be clarified later and just relaying what I've heard. I take it as he wasn't surprised by the overall report but didn't expect to see Knox's name.
He shouldn't be surprised as someone that handles the elite of elite recruits every single season and has been in the college basketball recruiting game for such a long time. I'll get into more details about Kevin Knox, Bam Adebayo and Nelens Noel, but if UK isn't panicking then Kentucky fans shouldn't.
The people I've spoken with are 100 percent confident that none of this will come back to Calipari having knowledge or orchestrating payments of players. That may be the most important caveat of all of this. If there is never any evidence of Calipari setting up payments, talking payments or orchestrating deals with agents then UK won't have any major penalties for the future. At the end of the day the NCAA could vacate what they see fit, which wouldn't be great news for UK, but wouldn't impact Kentucky's program moving forward.
You better believe there were several conversations between Calipari and UK's staff. Even some of the support staff, too. One thing you have to remember about Calipari is that if someone is loyal to him he will forever be loyal back. He loves his staff. I do think there's a shakeup after this season, but he views his entire staff like family. This is important because it indicates there wouldn't be any secrets kept between the staff and Calipari. Payne and Barbee have such a strong and long relationship with Calipari that I believe Calipari would know if they were fibbing but both have been in the game such a long time they know what could be traced back to them and what could hurt Calipari and UK. Justus doesn't quite have that relationship with Calipari, although it's trending in that direction, but Justus is too smart and has too bright of a future to get down and start slinging mud with agents and payments.
Of course assistants lie. Usually to get ahead and receive notoriety, but there's no sense of trying to get ahead from UK's assistants. All would like to be head coaches at some point, but if UK's program continues to succeed assistants will have an opportunity to be the head coach. Another positive sign for UK is that the credit seems to be balanced among assistant coaches for recruits. Payne gets the most, then Justus, but Barbee helps in a major way every so often. It's not like one assistant is in for EVERY recruit for a three-year span. There's not a culture of one-upping each other on the staff. When there is that culture that breeds cheating.
It would surprise everyone at UK if any assistants were implicated. It doesn't mean it's impossible, but Calipari would be floored.
Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated
Knox: I thought Knox made a mistake not distancing himself from the report after the game on Saturday, but his decision to avoid comment makes sense. It would make fans feel a little better if he said there's no truth to it, but it would quite frankly be as credible as Andy Miller's initial report, which is starting to get torn to shreds by national media. I still would have said something, but that's just me.
It's not illegal to meet with an agent after your eighth grade year. It's not an NCAA violation to meet with an agent or have your family meet with an agent. It happens to almost every five-star player and it happens to players that are still in college. There's nothing wrong with it and if Knox and his family did meet with Miller that won't impact UK's season.
As many of you all know the problem is when you accept a gift from an agent, but the NCAA President Mark Emmert said on Saturday that even that isn't a big deal. His entire sentiment on Saturday was moving forward the NCAA won't care about the little deals here and there, but instead will look at the adults that know they are cheating and try to punish the adults (it seemed like he wanted to go after agents, parents and coaches).
I haven't heard one way or another if Knox or his family actually met with Miller or some of his associates. I would almost guarantee someone in the family at some point met with an agent. The initial feedback was it was someone close to Knox's AAU program that met with Miller, but even in a worst case scenario where Knox met with Miller and Miller paid for the dinner, UK isn't concerned in the slightest.
Kentucky playing Knox on Saturday was all the evidence you needed that the Cats aren't worried about Knox and that won't change moving forward.
Concern Level: 1/10
Bam Adebayo: This is the tricky one for UK. The good news that even if Adebayo or his family received $48,000 from an agent there will be ZERO evidence implicating UK in the payment process. There's a chance Bam Adebayo will be ruled ineligible, but it won't have any long term impacts on UK's program. Yes, UK would have to vacate the 2016-2017 season in a worst case scenario, but that wasn't a banner season for Kentucky. It would stink but it's not crippling moving forward.
However, UK is trying to figure out who met with Miller and his people. I'm told it's clear that Adebayo met with agents during his time as a high school recruit, often times being "represented" by people that weren't his mother or family. I'm also confused as if Adebayo actually sat in these meetings. My guess is he may have been there for some but probably wasn't present for the majority.
It's clear and understood that Adebayo was being pushed to NC State. It doesn't take a genius to know that Adebayo and Dennis Smith Jr., were expected to be a package deal for the Wolfpack. Smith Jr., was delivered. Bam went to UK. Was the "bad loan" wording for the payments not working? Was that money set aside for Bam if he HAD picked NC State? That one seems like more of a stretch, but that's what happens when we all start speculating off someone's Excel sheets.
I couldn't get into the weeds of what UK knows and doesn't know, but my guess is they think some money was given to someone representing Bam. Was it the family? I don't know. Was it Eric Peartree, his guardian? I don't know. Was it someone close to Bam's adidas AAU program? I don't know. But I do think money exchanged hands.
However, that may not be bad news for UK unless it's proven that the money went back to Bam's family. If that happens and it's a significant amount of money then Bam will likely be ruled ineligible assuming there's proof. If the money didn't go back to the family then UK will be fine. The NCAA will have too much on its plate and it may be too difficult to prove who was actually benefiting financially.
UK didn't know about any payments for Adebayo. Calipari talked extensively about Adebayo's poor upbringing and nasty financial situation. Cal is no dummy.
Now, Calipari not knowing won't stop UK from potentially having to vacate wins. It's happen to him twice before at previous stops. Another thing to consider is there will have to be SIGNIFICANTLY more information and proof for Bam to be in any trouble. There will have to be pay stubs, receipts, and deposits. The earliest (unless UK self-imposes which I'm told won't happen) would likely be 2021 before a final ruling was made regarding Bam, and that's if the NCAA decides to pursue this allegation.
My guess is nothing comes from the Bam situation because there's not nearly enough there as of today and it would be such a long and potentially pointless exercise just to vacate a team's Elite Eight season. It's like worrying about leaving the stove on when the entire house is in flames. 10 years ago the NCAA would be all over this, but the times have changed.
Arizona has had there fair share of headaches over the weekend but the majority of the other programs that were implicated or had players mentioned have seemingly moved on while they conduct internal investigations.
Kentucky had two former players (Nerlens Noel and Bam Adebayo) mentioned and one current player (Kevin Knox). Knox played on Saturday and finished with a game-high 21 points. Knox wouldn't offer comment after the game, which would be expected from a teenager mentioned in one of the biggest college basketball scandals in NCAA history.
While Knox won't go public, here's the latest with UK Basketball and what to expect moving forward.
Bob Queen/USA Today
Overview: There isn't a panic in Lexington. This was a wake-up call to some folks behind the scene but I'm told that John Calipari was not surprised by any of the news that broke on Friday. While that was what I was told, I was also told that he didn't expect to see Kevin Knox's name, but isn't concerned about that. Just a few sentences into the Insider Notes and I've contradicted myself, but hopefully it will be clarified later and just relaying what I've heard. I take it as he wasn't surprised by the overall report but didn't expect to see Knox's name.
He shouldn't be surprised as someone that handles the elite of elite recruits every single season and has been in the college basketball recruiting game for such a long time. I'll get into more details about Kevin Knox, Bam Adebayo and Nelens Noel, but if UK isn't panicking then Kentucky fans shouldn't.
The people I've spoken with are 100 percent confident that none of this will come back to Calipari having knowledge or orchestrating payments of players. That may be the most important caveat of all of this. If there is never any evidence of Calipari setting up payments, talking payments or orchestrating deals with agents then UK won't have any major penalties for the future. At the end of the day the NCAA could vacate what they see fit, which wouldn't be great news for UK, but wouldn't impact Kentucky's program moving forward.
You better believe there were several conversations between Calipari and UK's staff. Even some of the support staff, too. One thing you have to remember about Calipari is that if someone is loyal to him he will forever be loyal back. He loves his staff. I do think there's a shakeup after this season, but he views his entire staff like family. This is important because it indicates there wouldn't be any secrets kept between the staff and Calipari. Payne and Barbee have such a strong and long relationship with Calipari that I believe Calipari would know if they were fibbing but both have been in the game such a long time they know what could be traced back to them and what could hurt Calipari and UK. Justus doesn't quite have that relationship with Calipari, although it's trending in that direction, but Justus is too smart and has too bright of a future to get down and start slinging mud with agents and payments.
Of course assistants lie. Usually to get ahead and receive notoriety, but there's no sense of trying to get ahead from UK's assistants. All would like to be head coaches at some point, but if UK's program continues to succeed assistants will have an opportunity to be the head coach. Another positive sign for UK is that the credit seems to be balanced among assistant coaches for recruits. Payne gets the most, then Justus, but Barbee helps in a major way every so often. It's not like one assistant is in for EVERY recruit for a three-year span. There's not a culture of one-upping each other on the staff. When there is that culture that breeds cheating.
It would surprise everyone at UK if any assistants were implicated. It doesn't mean it's impossible, but Calipari would be floored.
Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated
Knox: I thought Knox made a mistake not distancing himself from the report after the game on Saturday, but his decision to avoid comment makes sense. It would make fans feel a little better if he said there's no truth to it, but it would quite frankly be as credible as Andy Miller's initial report, which is starting to get torn to shreds by national media. I still would have said something, but that's just me.
It's not illegal to meet with an agent after your eighth grade year. It's not an NCAA violation to meet with an agent or have your family meet with an agent. It happens to almost every five-star player and it happens to players that are still in college. There's nothing wrong with it and if Knox and his family did meet with Miller that won't impact UK's season.
As many of you all know the problem is when you accept a gift from an agent, but the NCAA President Mark Emmert said on Saturday that even that isn't a big deal. His entire sentiment on Saturday was moving forward the NCAA won't care about the little deals here and there, but instead will look at the adults that know they are cheating and try to punish the adults (it seemed like he wanted to go after agents, parents and coaches).
I haven't heard one way or another if Knox or his family actually met with Miller or some of his associates. I would almost guarantee someone in the family at some point met with an agent. The initial feedback was it was someone close to Knox's AAU program that met with Miller, but even in a worst case scenario where Knox met with Miller and Miller paid for the dinner, UK isn't concerned in the slightest.
Kentucky playing Knox on Saturday was all the evidence you needed that the Cats aren't worried about Knox and that won't change moving forward.
Concern Level: 1/10
Bam Adebayo: This is the tricky one for UK. The good news that even if Adebayo or his family received $48,000 from an agent there will be ZERO evidence implicating UK in the payment process. There's a chance Bam Adebayo will be ruled ineligible, but it won't have any long term impacts on UK's program. Yes, UK would have to vacate the 2016-2017 season in a worst case scenario, but that wasn't a banner season for Kentucky. It would stink but it's not crippling moving forward.
However, UK is trying to figure out who met with Miller and his people. I'm told it's clear that Adebayo met with agents during his time as a high school recruit, often times being "represented" by people that weren't his mother or family. I'm also confused as if Adebayo actually sat in these meetings. My guess is he may have been there for some but probably wasn't present for the majority.
It's clear and understood that Adebayo was being pushed to NC State. It doesn't take a genius to know that Adebayo and Dennis Smith Jr., were expected to be a package deal for the Wolfpack. Smith Jr., was delivered. Bam went to UK. Was the "bad loan" wording for the payments not working? Was that money set aside for Bam if he HAD picked NC State? That one seems like more of a stretch, but that's what happens when we all start speculating off someone's Excel sheets.
I couldn't get into the weeds of what UK knows and doesn't know, but my guess is they think some money was given to someone representing Bam. Was it the family? I don't know. Was it Eric Peartree, his guardian? I don't know. Was it someone close to Bam's adidas AAU program? I don't know. But I do think money exchanged hands.
However, that may not be bad news for UK unless it's proven that the money went back to Bam's family. If that happens and it's a significant amount of money then Bam will likely be ruled ineligible assuming there's proof. If the money didn't go back to the family then UK will be fine. The NCAA will have too much on its plate and it may be too difficult to prove who was actually benefiting financially.
UK didn't know about any payments for Adebayo. Calipari talked extensively about Adebayo's poor upbringing and nasty financial situation. Cal is no dummy.
Now, Calipari not knowing won't stop UK from potentially having to vacate wins. It's happen to him twice before at previous stops. Another thing to consider is there will have to be SIGNIFICANTLY more information and proof for Bam to be in any trouble. There will have to be pay stubs, receipts, and deposits. The earliest (unless UK self-imposes which I'm told won't happen) would likely be 2021 before a final ruling was made regarding Bam, and that's if the NCAA decides to pursue this allegation.
My guess is nothing comes from the Bam situation because there's not nearly enough there as of today and it would be such a long and potentially pointless exercise just to vacate a team's Elite Eight season. It's like worrying about leaving the stove on when the entire house is in flames. 10 years ago the NCAA would be all over this, but the times have changed.
