|
|
|
Tuesday, July 10
Updated: July 12, 1:48 PM ET
NCAA looking into Stoudemire eligibility
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
|
INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA is looking into the potential eligibility of Amare Stoudemire because the top-rated rising high school senior center retained the services of a public relations specialist, even though it's allegedly pro bono.
|
Camp chatter
|
|
Embattled former Missouri signee Robert Whaley could end up at either Memphis or West Virginia, sit out and play in the 2002-03 season. Both schools are reviewing if Whaley is worth the risk.
Tulane agreed to play at Kentucky, reuniting Shawn Finney with his former mentor Tubby Smith. Finney was an assistant at Kentucky before getting the head coaching job at Tulane prior to last season. Tulane will get a return game out of Kentucky, as well as Georgia Tech, whom the Green Wave will play this season. Tulane beefed up its schedule with home games against Vanderbilt and Mississippi State as well as a road game without a return at Florida. Meanwhile, Finney said an announcement is due on the new 8,000-seat on-campus arena for the Green Wave.
Marshall coach Greg White is making some bold statements about Temple transfer and one-time Clemson signee Ronald Blackshear. White said Blackshear is taking 1,000 shots a day and is right now the team's best player - better than potential all-Americans Tamar Slay and J.R. VanHoose.
Coaches have praised Herb Sendek's move of releasing Damien Wilkins instead of accepting him back at N.C. State. Sendek had no choice with his job on the line and the prospect of a divided team if Wilkins and his father Gerald came back and made demands on playing time after he decided to withdraw from the NBA draft and return to school. Wilkins is transferring to Georgia where the Bulldogs expect him to honor the commitment and play when he's eligible in 2002-03 instead of redshirting and then declaring for the draft next May.
USC's recruiting coaches, as reported earlier, are Damon Archibald and new hire Kurtis Townsend with head coach Henry Bibby. Embattled assistant Dave Miller resigned amid allegations on two fronts -- one from a player who was upset with his conduct and from the NCAA on a possible recruiting violation of a junior college player. Miller was known for being the most prolific recruiter in terms of mailings, sending out letters almost daily to players.
New South Carolina coach Dave Odom said Chuck Eidson is on schedule to return to the team in time for practice in October after he tore his ACL last season. Eidson is going to be released to do 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 drills in August. "We have to have him," said the former Wake Forest coach. Odom said his first move when he got the job was to get Eidson back on campus and rehab there while also being a part of the program with the players who are working out, like former McDonald's All-American and expected major contributor Rolando Howell.
The Maui Invitational hasn't made its pairings yet but the seedings for the prestigious Thanksgiving tournament could end up being: 1. Duke; 2. Kansas; 3. UCLA; 4. Seton Hall; 5. South Carolina; 6. Houston; 7. Ball State; 8. Chaminade. Maui then plays according to seeding.
Illinois coach Bill Self and New Mexico assistant Joe Dooley are hobbling around on the road recruiting. Self had a dead bone in his knee and had surgery to break it off. He said he might have two more surgeries this summer to finish the job and then face rehab. Dooley had knee surgery on his ACL and is sporting a massive brace.
First-year Michigan coach Tommy Amaker knew he had a different recruiting job than Seton Hall when he got to Ann Arbor. The first thing he said he was handed was a cell phone. Amaker said he somehow was able to get away without using one at Seton Hall. He's not a fan of them but the Wolverines didn't give him a choice.
Aaron Mathews of Villanova and Xavier's Lloyd Price are both expected to land at Delaware State, sit out the season and play in 2002-03.
Scheduling is a major topic among coaches with a number of them trying to fill their games. Illinois-Chicago needs a home game. Bowling Green needs two games. Vanderbilt is looking for a game. So, too, is Oklahoma State. Western Kentucky needs two more, one at home and one on the road. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said the Kentucky-Tech series was over last season and would renew in 2002-03 but there was a perception out there -- possibly by Kentucky -- the series had one more season. Kentucky did call New Mexico to see if the Lobos were interested in playing in Lexington -- without a return to the Pit -- but the Lobos had already signed a contract to play Cal in a home-and-home series the next two seasons. Valparaiso needs a home-and-home game. The Pete Newell Challenge is expected to make an announcement on the fourth team this week. Michigan State is slated to play Stanford while San Francisco takes Cal's place as the other Bay Area host. The event is opposite the big draw of the day on Dec. 29 -- Louisville at Kentucky. Pepperdine pulled out of the Big Island Invitational in Hilo, leaving the tournament scrambling for an eighth team. LSU and Wisconsin are the headline teams in the event.
|
NCAA enforcement director David Price told ESPN.com Sunday he had reservations about a booklet passed out on Stoudemire's behalf at the Nike All-America Camp this week by Jacksonville, Fla.-based Marc Little. Price would only say the booklet raised a red flag, but sources said the NCAA sent around memos on the subject Monday and was expected to review the matter in the coming days.
The 6-foot-9 Stoudemire, arguably the top player in the class of 2002, committed to Memphis in February but has said he's 50-50 on whether or not he will honor the commitment and sign in November or declare for the NBA draft in May 2002.
Stoudemire was the most dominant player at the camp and NBA scouts in attendance expect him to be a lottery pick in 2002, although not as high as the three high school seniors who went in the top four picks last month.
The booklet, which was handed out to the media but was a hot topic among college coaches, contained an 8x11 glossy photo and news articles on Stoudemire as well as Little's business card. The front cover of the bound folder has a picture of Stoudemire with his name and high school -- his sixth -- Cypress Creek High in Orlando, Fla., in bold letters. Stoudemire was ineligible last season in Florida after switching schools.
Memphis coach John Calipari saw the press packet Monday and told ESPN.com he was disgusted. Calipari was already upset over Stoudemire's abrupt move from the Adidas to the Nike camp in the last month and the influence of Rev. Bill Williams in the process. CBS.Sportsline.com reported Monday that Williams could be facing a 41-month federal prison term later this summer.
Calipari, who can't talk about Stoudemire -- a recruitable athlete -- until he signs the letter of intent, left Indianapolis for the Adidas ABCD camp in New Jersey and wasn't expected to return. If Stoudemire's situation continues to unravel and his eligibility is in question, Calipari might not want the signed national letter of intent. Stoudemire praised Calipari in previous interviews for his ability to get players to the pros, but Memphis could be tying up a scholarship for no reason if Stoudemire has no intentions of going to college or isn't eligible.
Little said he was in Indianapolis to help clear up any misconceptions about Stoudemire and his mother, Carrie, who had served time in a Florida prison for forgery. Little said any reports that Carrie Stoudemire isn't an integral part of Amare's life weren't true. Stoudemire's father died in 1994. Amare also has a 12-year old brother Marwan. Little said he, Carrie Stoudemire, Rev. Williams and Cypress Creek coach Earl Barnett are part of Stoudemire's inner circle of advisors and wanted to get the correct information out on Stoudemire.
Little struck a deal with Nike that he would serve as Stoudemire's media liaison, but that he wouldn't interfere with Stoudemire's media responsibilities through Nike. Stoudemire briefly talked to reporters Saturday, but Little said Monday that Stoudemire wouldn't be available during his regular time slot, set up by Nike, and that "they" decided he wouldn't talk. The Nike camp ended Tuesday night. Little said he was doing the work for Stoudemire at the request of Rev. Williams and doesn't believe that he has contributed to a violation.
But the NCAA's interpretation of an extra benefit would include a player getting special treatment from a professional public relations specialist because of Stoudemire's basketball ability. Little said he would stop if it meant Stoudemire's eligibility would be called into question.
"I don't see it but maybe I'm missing something," Little said. "It would be one thing if I were being paid and I were funneling money to him, then that would be a violation. But I'm not doing that."
Little said he's around Stoudemire to help him with interviews, get the truth out and facilitate any problems or questions surrounding an interview request.
"If I pay my own way and put myself up then where's the extra benefit?" Little said. "There would be no contracts. There are no agreements signed."
Little said the landscape changed considerably in college and high school basketball when Kwame Brown became the first high school senior ever chosen No. 1 in the draft.
"What do you do when a young man is about to face a media barrage like he's never seen," Little said. "Do you leave him there to the devices of whomever? Or do you say how you handle yourself."
Little said Stoudemire decided on Memphis in February so he wouldn't have to deal with the recruiting process.
"Amare has always said he might go to Memphis and he might go to the NBA," Little said. "But nothing is etched in stone. We're not going to have him walking around with an NBA flag. I'm not pushing that. I've never heard from the NBA and I've never called them. Unless there is a hidden rule I don't know about in the NCAA, then I don't understand it. These young men have to have protection. If the NCAA passes a rule that says you can't have a PR person then I'll have to back away. I'm not going to put him in jeopardy if he decides to go to college."
Little said Stoudemire's advisors won't push him to the NBA, but only Stoudemire will make that final call.
"It's not majority rules," Little said.
Checking the potential eligibility of a high-profile player isn't new to the NCAA. The enforcement division was looking at the eligibility of Tyson Chandler had the Dominguez High (Calif.) center decided to sign with a school rather than declare for the draft. Chandler never committed to a school and was selected second in the draft last month by the L.A. Clippers before he was traded to Chicago for Elton Brand.
"The way it is now, July 8, 2001, you call me," Little said of any interview requests for Stoudemire, although he failed to provide him for ESPN.com. "Who knows? I may get kicked out by November."
From the boardroom
The NCAA will pass emergency legislation next week to move the end of the contact period up to Oct. 5. A scheduling quirk had the contact period ending Oct. 14, which would run through the first two days of practice. Coaches complained that they would be forced to choose between recruiting and practice, so the NCAA obliged and will make the immediate change for this fall.
The NCAA is also expected to review two separate proposals at the October management council meeting for exemptions to the controversial five/eight scholarship limitation. NCAA schools can't sign more than five players in a given recruiting class, no more than eight in two seasons. But the NCAA will likely approve legislation that takes into account rare exceptions, but it might not include the NBA draft if the players don't leave in good academic standing. Meanwhile, coaches are concerned that some schools are using the new rule allowing incoming freshman to go to summer school to their advantage in basketball. Some schools have enrolled the players in their basketball camps as campers -- paid by the players -- giving them access to the staff for individual workouts. But not all schools have the same level camps, meaning some schools are getting an unfair advantage over the summer. This might prompt the NCAA to pass a rule preventing graduates of high school to participate in camps. The basketball issues committee will take up this topic in September.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
|
|
|
|
