College Basketball Random Chatter

• Azubuike24

  

  UNC isn't getting preferential treatment. More like, they aren't getting ridiculous, over-the-top, jump to conclusions treatment. The fans of the programs who are likely victims of this, or have been victims of this, are the ones making a stink. That's why I've seen both UK and Duke fans crying out.
  
  I'm not saying I agree that UNC deserves anything more, but I think those fans do have a point. For instance, if this was Nick Saban at Alabama, it would be breaking news every hour. You would get daily updates even if there was nothing new to report.
• reclegend22

  

  Azubuike24;1251314 wrote:UNC isn't getting preferential treatment. More like, they aren't getting ridiculous, over-the-top, jump to conclusions treatment. The fans of the programs who are likely victims of this, or have been victims of this, are the ones making a stink. That's why I've seen both UK and Duke fans crying out.
  
  I'm not saying I agree that UNC deserves anything more, but I think those fans do have a point. For instance, if this was Nick Saban at Alabama, it would be breaking news every hour. You would get daily updates even if there was nothing new to report.

  I think Az captured the heart of my previous post just perfectly here. It's not that I think ESPN is blatantly covering up any wrongdoing by the UNC basketball program, but rather it is my viewpoint that the sports network has taken a decidedly cautious and detached stance on the entire matter, thus leaving fans of Duke and Kentucky and other schools that have experienced much less circumspect treatment from ESPN in the past regarding similar situations where sports scandals are suspected (i.e. the Duke lacrosse debacle, or the Bernie Fine affair at Syracuse) with a sour taste in their mouths. Those two situations involved much more serious accusations than what's being investigated at UNC, but the general point remains that ESPN -- and a large majority of the media -- decided not to wait until all of the facts were clear in those cases before beginning to air hearsay that cast outrageous aspersions about those two institutions around the clock as if they were fact. And, in the end, of course, those accusations just weren't true.
  
  While ESPN's conservative and evenhanded approach to the UNC story is exactly how the network should be handling a situation as this wherein not all of the details are known, it is hard not to criticize it when considering how ESPN has handled its reporting of other certain high-profile schools in the past. Can you imagine if a similar accusation of academic fraud was being reported in Lexington? ESPN would relocate the entire town of Bristol to the Commonwealth, and that is the only college basketball news you would hear until November. Even with the history of Calipari's vacated Final Fours, that simply wouldn't be fair. But that's how ESPN would react in that event, because "Kentucky" would make it a big story. For whatever reason, Duke and Kentucky just seem to be more universally polarizing than UNC, which makes for a more interesting story to a broader amount of people.
• Laley23

  

  It's easy. Uk and duke are villains in that people love to hate them. Like the Yankees, Notre dame, etc. UNC is pretty well liked by all. ESPN knows it won't be CLOSE to the ratings of the other two, so they ignore it...essentially.
  
  Reminds me of Kelvin Sampson. ESPN didn't cover that at all, hardly. Cause for the most part, their viewers don't give a fuck.
• reclegend22

  

  Laley23;1252106 wrote:It's easy. Uk and duke are villains in that people love to hate them. Like the Yankees, Notre dame, etc. UNC is pretty well liked by all. ESPN knows it won't be CLOSE to the ratings of the other two, so they ignore it...essentially.
  
  Reminds me of Kelvin Sampson. ESPN didn't cover that at all, hardly. Cause for the most part, their viewers don't give a ****.

  This pretty much sums it up. The only other schools that I can think of in all of college athletics that are or have been in the past hated by so many as much as Duke and Kentucky now are Tark the Shark's Nevada-Las Vegas teams and Notre Dame, Miami and Ohio State football. I could be missing a couple of teams such as Florida State football and USC football, but that seems to be the short list.
  
  Such is life.
• centralbucksfan

  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/basketball/ncaa/08/22/nerlens-noel-ncaa/index.html?sct=hp_t2_a2&eref=sihp
  
  NCAA expanding investigation into UK recruit Noel.
• Fab1b

  

  Not sure if this was posted anywhere but potenial Ohio State recruit Tony Farmer sentanced to 3 yrs, watch reaction:
  http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/top-recruit-collapses-court-receiving-three-prison-sentence-141153269--ncaab.html
• Midstate01

  

  Fab1b;1252453 wrote:Not sure if this was posted anywhere but potenial Ohio State recruit Tony Farmer sentanced to 3 yrs, watch reaction:
  http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/top-recruit-collapses-court-receiving-three-prison-sentence-141153269--ncaab.html

  
  I'd never heard of him. What a jackass though.
• ironman02

  rec,
  
  The wording of your original post may have been what caused my misunderstanding. I think you said something along the lines of ESPN giving Carolina a "pass", as if they were simply turning their heads to the entire situation. I can agree that ESPN is handling this in a fair manner, whereas they jumped to conclusions in other cases involving other schools. While I think that has more to do with the severity or nature of those particular cases, I do understand where you're coming from. My point originally was just that the media is covering the story, and they are sensationalizing a lot of it. I think we're basically on the same page, other than our views of Coach K in particular, which I'm sure doesn't surprise you in the least.
• reclegend22

  

  ironman02;1252533 wrote:rec,
  
  The wording of your original post may have been what caused my misunderstanding. I think you said something along the lines of ESPN giving Carolina a "pass", as if they were simply turning their heads to the entire situation. I can agree that ESPN is handling this in a fair manner, whereas they jumped to conclusions in other cases involving other schools. While I think that has more to do with the severity or nature of those particular cases, I do understand where you're coming from. My point originally was just that the media is covering the story, and they are sensationalizing a lot of it. I think we're basically on the same page, other than our views of Coach K in particular, which I'm sure doesn't surprise you in the least.

  Agreed. I could have worded it more clearly the first time. "Pass" was definitely not the right word, as that implies that UNC has in fact cheated in some way. Maybe more will come out, but as of now, nothing concrete has resulted from this. Do I think it is suspicious that in 2004-05 there wasn't a single declared major on the UNC hoops roster that wasn't Afro-American studies? It seems rather interesting, considering how much hot water that course has been in at UNC lately, but that's only my opinion and I am not conducting the investigation.
  
  February, where are you?
• centralbucksfan

  Fab1b;1252453 wrote:Not sure if this was posted anywhere but potenial Ohio State recruit Tony Farmer sentanced to 3 yrs, watch reaction:
  http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/top-recruit-collapses-court-receiving-three-prison-sentence-141153269--ncaab.html

  OSU never offered him. But I am sure he was being recruited by them, and MANY others, including MSU btw. THought I read that he had an offer from Michigan, Ill, Xavier, PSU and DePaul.
  Pretty sad situation as a bright future turned to prison.
• FatHobbit

  

  Fab1b;1252453 wrote:Not sure if this was posted anywhere but potenial Ohio State recruit Tony Farmer sentanced to 3 yrs, watch reaction:
  http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/top-recruit-collapses-court-receiving-three-prison-sentence-141153269--ncaab.html

  This article includes the video of him beating his girlfriend and the judges comments.
  
  http://fox8.com/2012/08/22/i-team-surveillance-video-captured-violent-attack-by-farmer/
  
  When i watched the clip of his reaction I felt bad for everything he had lost. After seeing the additonal video I don't.
• NilesPacMan

  Pittsburgh and Syracuse will be included in the 2013 Big Ten-ACC Challenge. After a few years of Big Ten taking the challenge, I think that this move will allow the ACC to take the crown back.
  
  http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/63475/3-point-shot-7
• GOONx19

  

  CBS Sports says UCLA recruiting is under investigation.
  
  http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/20024238/ucla-trio-being-investigated-by-ncaa
• ironman02

  Per UNC:
  
  University statement on NCAA role in
  review of academic issues
  
  In light of continuing speculation about the
  role of the NCAA in the review of academic issues in the Department of African
  and Afro-American Studies, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is
  providing the following information:
  
  “The University first notified the
  NCAA that it had identified potential academic issues involving student-athletes
  in African and Afro-American Studies courses on August 24, 2011. We asked the
  NCAA to join us in our investigation of these issues, and they agreed to do
  that. A member of the NCAA enforcement staff traveled to Chapel Hill several
  times in the fall of 2011 and participated throughout the
  investigation.
  
  With the NCAA enforcement staff, our internal working
  group of University Counsel Leslie Strohm, Senior Associate Dean Jonathan
  Hartlyn, and former faculty athletics representative Jack Evans interviewed
  faculty and staff in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies,
  academic support counselors, and student-athletes who had taken multiple courses
  in the department.
  
  Based on the joint review, UNC and the NCAA staff
  concluded there were no violations of current NCAA rules or student-athlete
  eligibility issues related to courses in African and Afro-American Studies. As a
  result, the NCAA did not add any allegations or include this issue during the
  University’s appearance in October 2011 before the Committee on
  Infractions.
  
  College of Arts and Sciences Dean Karen Gil subsequently
  commissioned a review of courses in African and Afro-American Studies. In May,
  the University publicly issued that report and provided it to the
  NCAA.
  
  On Aug. 23, 2012, University Counsel Leslie Strohm and Senior
  Associate Dean Jonathan Hartlyn provided an update to the enforcement staff. The
  NCAA staff reaffirmed to University officials that no NCAA rules appeared to
  have been broken.
  
  University officials will continue to keep the NCAA
  informed as developments warrant.”
• SportsAndLady

  

  http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8346428/ncaa-discussed-final-four-move-domes-arenas
  
  Please!!
• GOONx19

  

  Definitely would love to see that. I'm tired of three-point shooters having to worry about air currents in those caverns.
• GOONx19

  

  Not to mention the horrible lower sightlines.
• swamisez

  

  Lance Thomas who graduated from Duke in 2010 made the papers for not paying back 57K of an 87K loan for jewelry back in 2009.
  
  Thomas bought the jewelry from a New Jersey jeweler and paid 30K downpayment and was told to pay the remainder in 15 days. He failed to do so and was subsequently sued.
  
  Questions now arising how Thomas got 30K for the downpayment and whether he accepted a benefit as a Duke basketball player by getting a credit extended to him by this jeweler.
  
  Lance Thomas, perennial scrub, getting the program in trouble potentially. Way to go Lance.
• sportswizuhrd

  swamisez;1264701 wrote:Lance Thomas who graduated from Duke in 2010 made the papers for not paying back 57K of an 87K loan for jewelry back in 2009.
  
  Thomas bought the jewelry from a New Jersey jeweler and paid 30K downpayment and was told to pay the remainder in 15 days. He failed to do so and was subsequently sued.
  
  Questions now arising how Thomas got 30K for the downpayment and whether he accepted a benefit as a Duke basketball player by getting a credit extended to him by this jeweler.
  
  Lance Thomas, perennial scrub, getting the program in trouble potentially. Way to go Lance.

  4th in minutes and he's a scrub?
• reclegend22

  

  Haven't been on the chatter in awhile. Definitely expected there to be a big blow up, including multiple threads and a party atmosphere, over the Lance Thomas story on here. People must be soaking up the remaining few days of summer.
  
  Anyways, if any banners are stripped, I will be unresponsive emotionally, and will probably kill my dog, or something else eerie as shit. I cannot even explain how numb I am right now even thinking about this potential disaster.
  
  I just hope that as we learn more, Lance isn't guilty of what I think he might be.
• ironman02

  Normally I'd be ecstatic to hear news like that, but with the recent academic issues at Carolina, I'm still worried sick that it will somehow affect the basketball program. Just to avoid any bad karma that might come my way, I'll let you guys slide for now.
• reclegend22

  

  This is exactly why I held back and took a more reserved approach with regard to the Carolina situation (i.e. not celebrating). A bitch, is karma.
• swamisez

  

  Yes, Lance Thomas was a scrub. Anyone who watched his career for 4 years knows he was of ill consequence and managed minutes his senior year simply because there was no one to take on fouls of power forwards and bigs.
• LJ

  

  lolololol
  

  CHAPEL HILL -- Matt Kupec, a star quarterback for UNC-Chapel Hill who later returned to become its chief fundraiser, resigned Sunday after an internal investigation showed he and university fundraiser Tami Hansbrough appear to have taken personal trips at the university’s expense, Chancellor Holden Thorp said Monday.

  Thorp said those trips appear to have included destinations where her other son, Ben Hansbrough, then a star basketball player at Notre Dame, was playing, but Thorp did not say how many.

  Thorp confirmed that a dental foundation audit later found that during that championship run, Tami Hansbrough had been traveling to cities in which Tyler Hansbrough was playing basketball.

  http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/09/11/2332702/top-unc-fundraiser-resigns-amid.html[LEFT]
  [/LEFT]
• Azubuike24

  

  All any of the last 2 pages prove?
  
  John Calipari MUST BE breaking rules.