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An ESPN Host Just Tried To Recruit Nerlens Noel To His Alma Mater

ESPN and other media outlets love to report on inappropriate behavior when schools get busted by the NCAA or more commonly by a select group of journalists. How about when one of their own violates ethical standards (and possibly NCAA regulations) by trying to recruit a player, perhaps the top recruit in the country, to come to his alma mater?

Assuming that he cannot claim ignorance with his typo, it is pretty clear that Burr, a 1994 graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse, was trying to recruit Nerlens Noel to play at Syracuse. While it was probably a joke in light of his favorite team having their dreams of a NCAA title likely dashed by Fab Melo being declared ineligible, at the very least it could be interpreted as unethical leading many to call for ESPN to punish, or at least reprimand, Burr for his tweet. The question of how the NCAA will respond to this is a little less clear as it depends on Burr’s affiliation with the school. If the NCAA chooses to come down hard, it could punish the school for Burr’s action particularly if he is a booster or maintains any active affiliation with the school. As for ESPN, which already deals with plenty of criticism regarding its objectivity, this latest incident certainly will not help.

nvr1983 (1398 Posts)


nvr1983:

View Comments (6)

  • Aparently journalistic ethics are among the mny things not taught at Syracuse. Really a beautiful day. The drug test failing, girlfriend abusers lose their center and the SU Alumni club in Bristol is exposed in broad daylight. Could it get better?

  • I am not a Big East Guy. No axe to grind. But Ryan Burr should be fired because he's way too smarmy and over-the-top opinionated to be the "straight guy" to the color commentators on any broadcast.

  • espn and/or Syracuse need to be slapped down hard. Syracuse has a very cozy relationship with espn and if there are no consequences for what happened here, then there will be no end to the shenanigans that will take place as espn works to make sure its favorites get all the advantages.