- March 16, 2012 was already known as a horrible day for Missouri with its shocking loss to Norfolk State, but things could get worse for the program based on another event that happened that day: the arrest of Levi Coolley, a big-time booster who was arrested that day on cocaine and marijuana distribution charges. The school has launched an internal investigation into how close Coolley was with the team, but at the very least he was on multiple team flights and received complimentary tickets from Missouri players. Now it is very early in the investigation, but that seems very suspicious. Flying on the team plane can easily be explained as boosters are allowed to purchase open seats on team flights, but the complimentary tickets is a little more interesting. It could just be that the players had extra tickets and gave them to some random booster who happens to be implicating in a FBI investigation into drug distribution. Or it could be something more. In the post-Nevin Shapiro era where many prominent writers and analysts were quick to jump all over Miami and Donna Shalala it should not be too long before they are all over Missouri and its administrators.
- Most college coaches love to have seniors on the team because of the leadership and the wisdom they can impart on younger players. Unfortunately, they can still do some really dumb things themselves. Case in point: Temple rising senior Khalif Wyatt, who was arrested over the weekend for soliciting an undercover cop as a prostitute. To make matters worse Wyatt, who was named to Second Team All-Atlantic 10 last season after finishing fourth in the conference in scoring at 17.1 points per game, was reportedly celebrating his 21st birthday this weekend and was caught in a prostitution sting in Atlantic City that led to 27 arrests. Wyatt was been charged with soliciting a prostitute and resisting arrest (running from the cops) and assuming this is his first offense he will most likely not receive much more than a slap on the wrist. What is waiting for him back at Temple could be another story.
- Looking for a Kentucky story line that is going to get completely overblown (or probably already is thanks to the calm rational residents of Lexington)? Larry Vaught has it for you thanks to an anonymous NBA scout who says that John Calipari‘s system hides the flaws of many of his players. While we do agree with the scout on some points (like how having Anthony Davis on your team makes you look better) many of them are kind of pointless including the primary premise that the system hides some of the players’ weaknesses since that is what a system is supposed to do–highlight strengths and minimize weaknesses. And for what it is worth the quality of NBA scouts can be highly variable. Some that we have talked to seem pretty knowledgeable while others are just there to collect a paycheck including our personal favorite who spent most of a game on New Year’s Eve texting his friends while complaining to us about how much bottle service would cost in New York City that night.
- When schools and conferences make decisions they say they always do so in the best interest of the students/athletes and without any major conflicts of interest. The Big East may have a hard time convincing people of that with their decision to hire the search firm, which the current acting commissioner used to be involved in as a partner, to find the next commissioner. To be fair, the firm does appear to be a well-known one that has a solid reputation and a long history, but decisions like these will raise more than a few eyebrows. It is quite possible that the firm will do a good job at a reasonable cost, but without transparency this only adds to the questions surrounding college athletics.
- Over the past week, we have featured a series of posts highlighting the top players from the past season including ones who were positive surprises. Rob Dauster is taking a look at the other side of the spectrum by analyzing the most disappointing players from last season. Many of the names on here will be familiar to you as players that have been ripped by their fan bases, but a few of the names–particularly the last two–are ones that may not have been on your radar. The nice thing for all 11 of these players is that they will be back next season when they can atone for their play this season.