A few oddball stories

Was anyone else intrigued by the story of the 22 year old impostor who was playing high school basketball in Texas?
http://www.oaoa.com/news/permian-47129-player-bodytext.html

But I am convinced there's more to this story...and maybe it'll come out...

How many times have we heard this story....high school basketball coach just happens to befriend a "homeless" kid - who also just happens to be a 6-5 star basketball player. The coach takes the kid in and lets the player live at his home, becomes the kid's spokesperson or guardian, and presto - the kid happens to lead the team in every statistic...

Doesn't this sound a whole lot like the OJ Mayo story...or the Danny Almonte story, or the Mac Koshwal story...?
And in most of these cases, the kid is a fraud (as was true in the Mac Koshwal situation) and is way older than he claims...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15644

Well, I have to believe the coach in quesiton here HAD TO KNOW that there was more than meets the eye. Wouldn't he at least try to find some info on the kid, try to locate a birth certificate or a parent or relative??
Nope...his own words are that he never tried....gimme a break!!! He says the kid lived just as if he was the coach's own son, right there in his own household!!
But there would be other evidence....the body build, the development, etc...
Even if the kid got behind the wheel of a car, it would be obvious that he'd done it before...and was NOT a 15 year old novice trying to learn to drive.

So count me as among the skeptics in this story -- I have to believe that JUST LIKE the parents and coaches of Danny Almonte...this coach was in on the scam...or at the very least...knew there was something fishy and worked hard to keep it quiet because he benefitted first hand from the kid's talent.
What ever happened to the rule that if you either enter high school or even just play basketball on the AAU circuit (which is what led to the kid's downfall - as he was spotted at an AAU tourney in Arkansas by people from Florida who knew him) - that YOU HAVE TO PRODUCE A BIRTH CERTIFICATE??
Why was NOBODY suspicious that this kid obviously would NOT have been able to produce a birth certificate or any document with his assumed name that would correspond to the first 15 years of his life??

Somebody had to be pretty enabling for this kid to get this far along with his scam...and I think some of the school officials would certainly fall under that suspicion.
More details.........
http://www.zagsblog.com/2010/05/12/texas-hoops-star-is-an-imposter/

And even more that show the idiocy of allowing the kid to play under just the claim of being 15 years old but not propducing a birth certificate...
BTW - the press people had NO difficulty locating the kid's mother....hmmm..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/12/guerdwich-montimere-arres_n_572793.html



UConn's head coach Jim Calhoun is really running up costs for Connecticut taxpayers...
not only is he being paid over $2 mil per year...but enormous legal costs are accruing due to the NCAA violations Calhoun has committed...

Over $700,000 in legal fees alone to defend Jim Calhoun from accusations of NCAA rules violations have accumulated....
Note the statement-
"There is no taxpayer money or student tuition monies involved,” Mike Enright, a spokesman for the UConn athletic department, told the Courant. ” All of these bills are being paid through self-generated funds by the athletic department."
http://www.zagsblog.com/2010/05/12/uconn-paying-big-bucks-for-legal-defense/

OMG -- how many times have we heard this spin...and it's always a lie...the taxpayers always foot the bill one way or another...and usually the school is doing some pretty nifty accounting to try to spin it otherwise...

Note that the article itself disputes this by saying the taxpayers do pay..
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/ncaa-finances.htm?loc=interstitialskip

USA Today database shows UConn needed $8.2 million in student fees and $5.6 in university funds to balance the budget in 2008-09.
With a $13.8 million deficit, all the extra expenditures come back on students and taxpayers, eventually.
So no matter how they shuffle the paperwork, any unforseen expenses like these massive legal fees eventually get paid for by taxpayer's money, since the University and the athletic department run at such a huge deficit. You didn't expect them to be honest.....kinda like ISU fans' claims that their athletic department never costs the taxpayers a single penny and it is all self funded!!
I have seen this claim disproven dozens of times when the accounting is actually revealed and have documented it numerous times on BradleyFans.com.
Here's just one example...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=175827#post175827



Elsewhere I questioned how new Creighton coach Greg McDermott could speak to the press about his son who is now released from his Letter of Intent at Northern Iowa and re-pledged to Creighton.
I am happy for him, although puzzled that Coach McDermott obviously thought his own son was NOT good enough to play for him at Iowa State, but does this he can play at Creighton...
For all the time McDermott has been at Iowa State, Creighton has been a better team during that entire span!!

Anyway...recall that a D-I head coach cannot comment on a "recruit" unless that recruit is enrolled or has signed a LOI.
I was told he did sign a Letter of Intent at Creighton...but could that be true??
Here is apparently the only source for such a claim that the son, Doug McDermott has signed a LOI with Creighton...
http://www.amestrib.com/articles/2010/04/28/ames_tribune/sports/doc4bd7c50420b50927141660.txt

But could this be true???
First...if I believed every time some journalist reports a kid signs a letter of intent, then I'd be buying into an error about 50% of the time...
I guarantee he did NOT sign a 2nd Letter of Intent no matter what was reported since it is NOT allowed...(see below)...
You can believe what you want, but when it comes to the rules in this situation, then I have to think they are gonna follow those rules precisely so as NOT to screw up the kid's eligibility...

The PJ Star reported that Donivine Stewart signed - and of course he didn't...and numerous sites reported Kentucky signed Gilchrist - but of course he's only a junior and can't sign with anyone. There have been countless claims in news stories of kids "signing" when they really did not sign a true Letter of Intent.

I prefer to believe that they would follow the rules laid down by NCAA...

This comes directly from the National Letter site........check it out for yourself...

FAQ - Question:
"If I sign a National Letter of Intent in the early signing period and later get a complete release, can I sign another NLI in the spring signing period?"

Answer..
"No. NLI policy states a prospective student-athlete
is only permitted to sign one valid NLI in an academic
year. Therefore, if you sign a NLI during the early
period and get a complete release by the institution
or one of the NLI committees before the spring
signing period ends, you are not permitted to sign a
second NLI in the spring. You must wait until the next
academic year to sign another valid National Letter
of Intent if you have not enrolled at a four-year
institution."
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/nli/NLI/Frequently+Asked+Questions/Releases+and+Transferring/If+I+sign+a+National+Letter+of+Intent+in+the+early+signing+period+and+later+get+a+complete+release%2C+can+I+sign+another+NLI+in+the+spring+signing+period

If not released, then he would lose a year of eligibility but still couldn't sign a 2nd LOI..
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/nli/NLI/Frequently+Asked+Questions/Releases+and+Transferring/What+happens+if+I+change+my+mind+about+attending+the+institution+with+which+I+signed%2C+and+I+want+to+attend+another+National+Letter+of+Intent+institution+instead

And...even if you want to sign a 2nd Letter of Intent in a different sport...
it is STILL NOT ALLOWED!

"You may only sign one valid National Letter of
Intent annually. Furthermore, when you sign a
National Letter of Intent, the Letter is signed with an
institution and not with a coach or with a specific
sports team."
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/nli/NLI/Frequently+Asked+Questions/Signing+the+National+Letter+of+Intent/If+I+sign+a+National+Letter+of+Intent+in+one+sport+may+I+sign+a+second+National+Letter+of+Intent+in+a+different+sport

Darned old rules....but they must be followed!!!
...so I am NOT going to believe they violated those rules just to be able to tell the newspaper he signed with Creighton....

Maybe he signed something else, maybe a written agreement to come to Creighton but it cannot be a LOI thus McDermott may likely be violating the rules by talking about the kid...even if it is his own kid.

BTW - McDermott spent 5 years at UNI and then 4 more at Iowa State. In those 9 years I can count OVER 50 different players - mostly all scholarship players who have left the team with eligibility remaining. What gives...this not only has to be the record..but it also has to be so far beyond the guy who is in 2nd place that it is pretty unlbelievable. It's almost 6 players per year!!!!
Bradley has had a few...usually one each season or maybe two like Eddren, Darian, Fears, Saihou...etc...
but still never more than 2 in a given season giving Coach Les a departure rate of between 1 and 2 players per year - rougley the same or FEWER than the overall D-I average....SIU and ISU are way higher...but Greg McDermott at both UNI and Iowa State has over 50 players in a 9 year span...
Many sites have documented the 23-25 that have left in his tenure at Iowa State, and here is a list of over 25 who have had left at UNI...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=181424#post181424

It'll be interesting to see if the trend continues....as a couple commits and rostered players at Creighton are already gone--- some decommitted and one notable one booted (P'Allen Stinnett).

Here's a report of a player at UNI that supposedly "signed"...but it doesn't say he signed a Letter of Intent. Elsewhere it says he will not be on athletic scholarship but will be on academic scholarship.
Of course the rules that go with the LOI prohibit a player from signing the Letter of Intent if he is a walk on, non-athletic scholarship player...
most people do not know this.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100511/SPORTS020704/100511015/-1/watchdog/UNI-men-s-basketball-Panthers-to-add-Max-Martino-of-Cedar-Rapids-Kennedy

"An institution is strictly prohibited from allowing you to sign a National Letter of Intent if you are a non-scholarship walk-on. In order for a National Letter of Intent it be considered valid, it must be accompanied by an athletics financial aid award letter, which lists the terms and conditions of the award, including the amount and duration of the financial aid. The athletics financial aid offer must be signed by both the student and his or her parent or legal guardian. Simply put, there must be an athletics scholarship for a National Letter of Intent to be valid."
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/nli/NLI/Frequently+Asked+Questions/Signing+the+National+Letter+of+Intent/If+I+am+going+to+walk+on+to+the+team%2C+may+I+sign+a+National+Letter+of+Intent



Report says......SIU's Kevin Dillard's considering the following 5 schools: Baylor, Dayton, Nebraska, Alabama and UTEP.


Follow BU news on twitter..
http://twitter.com/xb7