Bruce Pearl’s Fall

A teary eyed Pearl

If you have not heard by now, Bruce Pearl has been found guilty of a number of serious NCAA rules violations. Tennessee has slashed his salary by $1.5 million and he can’t recruit on the road for a year. The violations include things like using unauthorized phones and excessive phone calls to recruits. Not only did he violate the rules, he also lied about it when he was confronted by the NCAA which rarely happens. Coaches normally fess up to their misdeeds. Pearl sat there and lied.

The most shocking part about the story is Pearl’s history. This is the same man who recorded a top recruit saying that he received a car from an Illinois assistant coach and sent the tape to the NCAA. He was essesntially ostracized from division I basketball for over a decade because of his actions. To hear that he’s now committed these serious rules violations and lied about them says a lot about the state of the sport.

ESPN’s Dana O’Neil sums it up well

From what I heard from 20 head coaches this summer, no program is clean. It’s just a matter of what you consider dirty. Rules are broken every day by every coach. Some do it intentionally and deliberately, others tripped up by the convoluted nature of the rulebook.

Read the rest of her article here and let me know what you think. The stakes are extremely high in college athletics so it should not come as a surprise that coaches are breaking rules but there is supposed to be something special about college athletics. As sponsorships, tv deals, licensing revenue and ticket prices keep rising, so will the pressure on these programs and the people who run them. I’m sure there are a number of coaches out there doing what got Pearl in trouble but they just didn’t get caught.

Michael Jordan’s Son Blows $50k in Vegas

Michael Jordan’s philandering ways have been well document on this blog in connection with the carnage that he’s left in his wake. Apparently the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. His son Marcus Jordan recently blew through $50,000 with some UCF teammates in toe at Las Vegas Casinos. He posted all of this on his twitter account including twitvids of their time at the Liquid Pool Longue.

This is not a good look for Marcus and his boys.

1. It’s a bad idea for Marcus Jordan NCAA athletes to gamble especially with this much money.
2. It’s a bad idea for NCAA athletes to discuss their gambling wins and losses publicly.
3. It’s a bad idea for anyone to talk about breaking the law publicly (you must be at least 21 to gamble at casinos and Jordan is 20).
4. It’s not a good idea for anyone to put as much money on a craps table as their friend’s family probably makes in a year.

In the words of Ed Lover, C’MON SON!

Greg is gone

Greg blows by Thabeet

I think most of us saw this coming but the news still hurt. Greg Monroe is leaving Georgetown to pursue his career at the next level and he will likely be a lottery pick. It will be tough to place Monroe with the other great big men who’ve come through my Alma Mater. He played in a different era with a different system that emphasized sharp team play more so than dominant individuals.

While he was not as dominant on both ends as guys like Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Mike Sweetney, Jahidi White or the “Junkyard Dog” he put up some serious numbers and is one of the most skilled big men to ever come through the hill top. Congrats on two great years at Georgetown and good luck at the next level! Check out his footwork against Notre Dame…

Shout out to Ashanti Cook

Congrats to my boy Ashanti Cook on filming this spec commercial for Nike. It was shot by Matthew Kohnen and Features Ashanti and Erik Swords. Shea has been working towards getting into the acting industry in L.A. and this is a huge step. Hopefully this commercial will get picked up and we’ll see it on TV in the months to come.

Congrats again Shea!!!

One Shining Moment

As much as it pains me to do so, I have to write about that basketball game last night… Yes the national championship game between Duke and Butler. No one in my office (including me) knew where Butler was before this week. We had all heard of the school before and probably watched them play at one point or another but no one really paid attention. No one really took notice until they punched their ticket to the final against Duke.

Looking at the bracket, the selection committee must have felt that it was Duke’s turn this year. Duke beat Arkansas Pine Bluff in the first round then Cal, Purdue, Baylor and West Virginia to get to the National Championship game!! Meanwhile the overall number 1 seeded Kansas had to slug it out in the Midwest bracket with teams like Ohio State, Michigan State, Georgetown and the toughest of them all Northern Iowa!!! The East and West brackets were giant killers as well. The committee got what they wanted and Duke won the national championship. The result, my bracket was complete garbage after the 3rd round of games. At least I didn’t finish dead last in any of my pools…

The game was pretty entertaining. A lot more so than I had expected. I was hoping to see one of the Plumlee twins tear down the goal a couple times but they really didn’t get any good looks. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, those kids have some pretty nasty footage out there. They can get up. All in all the game was pretty entertaining. Butler put up a hell of a fight even though deep down we all knew duke was going to win.

Congrats Coach K.

One of few coaches who's also the team Mascot