Recruiting In South Florida

[ARJB]

Trust me, we've passed plenty of this stuff on. UM is well-aware of what its competitors are doing and they've advised the NCAA of same.

The problem is: (1) it's hard to prove; and (2) the NCAA is in bed with the SEC. Everyone in the business knows the biggest crooks are at LSU, and that's where Emmert made his name.

Serious question, why don't you pass on what you know to a site like Deadspin or Gawker, someone with a history of blowing the lids of **** like this. They don't have any vested interest in it other than site hits, so the more devious the plots the better. They could get the dirt on almost anything. If this site, or its contributers want to make a name and try to combat this, thats the way I would go.

Those sites like to have proof as well.

 

[LA'Cane818]

Selective listening. No one believed most of his claims but him saying the SEC is rampant we all want to take that to the bank.

Haha.

Quit the whining. Winning cures all.

This is just stupid logic. Nobody had issue with Nevin's claims, its was the reporting of them. It was shoddy, sensationalistic journalism. The entire country looked at it at face value and just because they had some preconceived notions about our program labeled us as guilty. Not one person in the media dug a little deeper to reveal that most of his claims were impossible to prove, yet everyone of them jumped on the "death penalty" boat driven by a convicted con man. I have no doubt some of Nevin's claims are true, but I also think he's a piece of **** who was trying to sell his stories and his word shouldn't be considered gospel, especially when his claims were 10 years ago and probably pale in comparison to some of the big time programs. Bottom line, the NCAA wanted to sacrifice us to save face for the bigger programs in the eyes of Joe Public. If we had to point out Nevin's propensity to lie to avoid that, then so be it.

 

[Angry Ibis]

Trust me, we've passed plenty of this stuff on. UM is well-aware of what its competitors are doing and they've advised the NCAA of same.

The problem is: (1) it's hard to prove; and (2) the NCAA is in bed with the SEC. Everyone in the business knows the biggest crooks are at LSU, and that's where Emmert made his name.

Serious question, why don't you pass on what you know to a site like Deadspin or Gawker, someone with a history of blowing the lids of **** like this. They don't have any vested interest in it other than site hits, so the more devious the plots the better. They could get the dirt on almost anything. If this site, or its contributers want to make a name and try to combat this, thats the way I would go.

Those sites like to have proof as well.

I believe that is what he is saying. Proof exists. Some have it. Why not point it towards the diggers of dirt who will run it down or expose it?

 

[Fountain of Canes]

All i can say is i seen this stuff first hand. a person i played went to FSU and while in 11th grade he was taken remedial classes for the FCAT iand was driving a 2001 dodge neon living in a small 2 bedroom apt. as soon as he commited to FSU he somehow graduated early and was driving a new Dodge charger with rims. i talked to him personally alot at that time and there is no way he could have gotten all that in one year.so like powell and bridgewater and the rest "gotta feed the fam"

 

[BigCaneAl]

Yes everyone does it, but some are on a different level. In particular LSU....everyone knows it. Btw, everyone associates LSU as a national power etc, but the reality is they were an average to below average SEC team until Saban got there and they started "getting" big time recruits like Dwayne Bowe, and everyone knows what went on there.

Clemson is similar. They come out of nowhere and start "making waves" on the recruiting front and all of a sudden everyone associates them as a traditional recruiting power. Trust me, nothing about the school changed to make it more appealing all of $udden.

 

[rangerbrother]

Listen it is obvious this stuff goes on at EVERY program. **** I can even tell you of up close seeing my fave school paying a good friend of mine and he was NOT a football player. Now as far as my wife uncle is concerned if I told you all who he was guarantee most would take him at his word. The problem seems to these middlemen and one the biggest ones reside at Miami Southridge High School (basketball coach aka JHova)

 

[Dghustla]

It's not that the SEC pays their players because everyone does. It's that the SEC has immunity with the NCAA to do so. Auburn boosters wanted a good ole boy coach and hired Gene Chizik then opened the flood gates to insure he would win a title right away. Guy was the worst Coach of any BCS Title winner. I dont even know if another sub .500 career record coach has ever won a national title. So that's the problem, it's a fact and was proven that Cam newtons father received over 100k after his son committed to Aurburn and the NCAA clears him. Ex Bama and AU players snitch, LSU and Les Miles have a history of extravagant spending and miracle signing day flips, but all these things have a blind eye turned to them.

 

[Canes2082]

I was recently visiting back home in Miami and went to visit one of my cousins who is a high school football coach down there. Well this is X-Mas evening and we are having a few drinks and he start talking about his son and my son. Well I ask him why was he wearing all of the Alabama gear and not the "U" gear like when we were younger. He tells me and my wife and I quote "I roll with Nick". My wife not knowing ask who is Nick and he tells her Nick Saban Head Coach of Alabama. He states that he try to steer any kid worthy to Bama. Well I asked him why and just said they are the "it" school. Well he begins to tell me some of the shadiness that goes on down there recruiting wise. He tells me that for $1200 a certain high school coach will ensure that the kid gets a SAT/ACT score to be acccepted in almost any college (You should see the look on my wife and son face at the mention of this). He also mentioned that this same coach was promised a coaching position with 2 SEC schools if he delivered certain players. Well he said delivered a player to one of the said SEC schools but he ended up not getting the position because at the time a new coach was hired and the deal fell through. Now the coach would not send any players that schools way but instead steers them to his alma mater. Later night we go on the North end to visit my wifes family. Her uncle is there and we immediately start talking football. My wife uncle is VERY CONNECTED and RESPECTED in SFL area. I brought up the convo me and my cousin had earlier and when I asked him about it he laughed and his exact words were " Nephew if you knew half the things I knew you could bring down MANY big schools and a few local coaches". He stated one of the local coaches is not even a football coach who pushes kids on the south end the hardest (I laughed because I knew he was speaking of the same person my cousin mentioned earlier). I asked him point blank did he ever take money to steer kids he said no and that he always told the kids to look at the total picture and pick the best school for future (he is a pro um guy). To end this conversation he laughs and said all of the players that he have had over the last few years if he would have sent them to SEC schools he would be a millioniare. Is it really that bad in South Florida?

Joke of a post. Quit whining. FSU has arguably had the best recruiting classes last 3-4 years over even the mighty SEC. Your uncle or cousin sound like they are full of ****. Millionaire? Come on lassy.

LOL OK.... Jimbo was cut from the SEC cloth just remember that....Yes, to beat the SEC you had to recruit like them. How has FSU been stockpiling all that talent???...

 

[LA\^/]

I think every school should have a few NCAA representatives that shadow the coaches trying to recruit players. Especially in homes... there should be a guy in the corner with no integrity or shame just staring at the conversation.

 

[AUcane]

Trust me, we've passed plenty of this stuff on. UM is well-aware of what its competitors are doing and they've advised the NCAA of same.

The problem is: (1) it's hard to prove; and (2) the NCAA is in bed with the SEC. Everyone in the business knows the biggest crooks are at LSU, and that's where Emmert made his name.

I would add a (3) - UM could face some local backlash by these street agents in sofla. Meaning, UM's rep as a whisteblower will have a pretty negative effect on the school. JMO.

 

[Canes2082]

Trust me, we've passed plenty of this stuff on. UM is well-aware of what its competitors are doing and they've advised the NCAA of same.

The problem is: (1) it's hard to prove; and (2) the NCAA is in bed with the SEC. Everyone in the business knows the biggest crooks are at LSU, and that's where Emmert made his name.

I would add a (3) - UM could face some local backlash by these street agents in sofla. Meaning, UM's rep as a whisteblower will have a pretty negative effect on the school. JMO.

Solid point.... Most of the families down here are hurting and when they are given a little extra on the side it helps... If Miami were the team to take that away.... I agree with you there

 

[crossover22[]_[]]

Its not hard to see really. Some local talent has always left but not the way these kids leave for the SEC now days.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

I was skeptical of the rampant payment practices until I heard it from a source almost 20 years ago in Las Vegas. When I was at USC in the early '80s we had a struggling basketball program but managed to get the early commitment of a prized local recruit named Dwayne Polee, a high scoring phenom. In the final weeks before signing day we heard whispers that Polee might sign with UNLV, which was notorious for shady practices during the Tarkanian era. Most of us dismissed it, considering Polee's longstanding allegiance to USC. He had asserted his commitment countless times and was seen at games wearing USC gear.

Sure enough, Polee signed with UNLV. I was livid, as a sportswriter for the Daily Trojan but also a big fan of the basketball team. I called the UNLV athletic department from the Daily Trojan offices and asked to speak with Tarkanian. They initially blew me off but when I persisted they finally stuck an assistant coach on the phone with me. That assistant clearly had a great time deflecting questions from a young kid reporter. He laughed on the phone and said he couldn't understand why anyone would suspect any wrong doing, that UNLV was known as a terrific program and launching pad. He said they contacted Polee in the late going and were happy he displayed interest.

Fast forward a decade to Las Vegas. I was living there and met a guy named Billy Hungrecker, a playground legend who had played briefly at UNLV. Billy was working at the Imperial Palace sportsbook and we talked all the time. When I mentioned Dwayne Polee, Billy lit up and said he remembered everything about it. He laughed and said of course UNLV bought him. Billy told me that a former UNLV booster from that time period would occasionally show up at the Imperial Palace, and if he saw him I could talk to him.

One day months later Billy called me to the counter excitedly. The booster was in the sportsbook. This guy looked like a caricature. Big cowboy hat that was exceeded only by his accent and stomach. Billy introduced me to him and then I asked about the recruiting of Dwayne Polee more than a decade earlier. "Oh sure, I remember Polee," the booster said. "Cost us 25 and a scholarship for his sister."

Billy broke into laugher. "See! I told you he would know." I was still having a difficult time digesting the matter of fact response. I asked the former booster to repeat it. No problem. "Polee cost us 25 thousand plus we had to kick in a scholarship for her sister. Oh, I almost forgot, a new car for his sister also."

From that point forth I never doubted the pay to sign aspect. Scary to think where it's expanded, if the going rate in the early '80s was 25 dimes in basketball.

Sadly, Billy Hungrecker died suddenly from a heart attack a couple of years ago in Las Vegas while only in his mid 50s. He was a real character who had a career as a basketball player and coach, primarily in England. I hadn't seen him in several years after leaving Las Vegas full time in 2008. There were countless online tributes.

 

[Cuse2Miami26]

Trust me, we've passed plenty of this stuff on. UM is well-aware of what its competitors are doing and they've advised the NCAA of same.

The problem is: (1) it's hard to prove; and (2) the NCAA is in bed with the SEC. Everyone in the business knows the biggest crooks are at LSU, and that's where Emmert made his name.

I would add a (3) - UM could face some local backlash by these street agents in sofla. Meaning, UM's rep as a whisteblower will have a pretty negative effect on the school. JMO.

No snitchin

 

[killa1storm]

Its not hard to see really. Some local talent has always left but not the way these kids leave for the SEC now days.

This is one of those things that gets repeated enough and then it becomes the truth. Who are all these south florida players going to SEC teams?

AL- 3 from south florida (cooper, stinson, jackson)
AR- 3 (one of them, Coley, didn't have a Miami offer and Kirkland supposedly had his pulled)
Auburn- 3 (2 of them didn't have Miami offers)
UF- 7 (only ones highly recruited were Roberson, Riggs, and Gorman)
UGA- 3 (one is the kicker Morgan and the others are Bauta who didn'nt have offers from the Big 3 and Wooten who didn't have offers from the Big 3 IIRC)
LSU -2 (both Peterson and Bain didn't have Miami offers)

I only listed the top dogs in the conference because all those other bottom feeders typically get Florida kids who the Big 3 don't offer. Of the top 6 schools in the conference they have a combined 21 kids from S. Fla, FSU alone has 15 on their roster.

What happens is those schools take one big name who you all remember so it sticks out more, like a Sony Michel or Pat Peterson from years past. A lot of S. Fla kids aren't going to SEC schools, the numbers don't support the claims.