Bribery Scandal - FBI Probe - Book Richardson Involved

[Bosy Billups]

How awesome would it be for the community to rally around Miller and AZ basketball. Like, fuck this, and go balls to the wall support, 10x the red/blue game, not be intimidated or cowards in the face of adversity. Get in the fox hole, run towards the gunfire, nothing will stop us. That would keep Miller here for the long haul, we are fam.

[MrBug708]

I like how Sonny Vacarro is the go to guy about this all of a sudden

Why wouldn't he be? He is the highest profile person to be pretty honest about the whole game.

Because this was essentially his job and the line of work he did

[ZONACAT]

Is the FBI giving Sean and Arizona a note to give to the NCAA? The idea that Sean would let knowingly let Book commit NCAA infractions which would tarnish Lute's program is curious to me. FBI or not.

Because now, there is no doubt, Book will flip and he has been with Sean a very, very long time. I always thought he wasn't previously fired after the suspension because he knew too much.I didn't think Book would say a word before I read 97's thoughts on the matter.

And if Sean did let the FBI do their thing, without impingement, why hasn't the University forcefully come out and said as much. Our brand and Miller's reputation is getting destroyed in the meantime. When is the reveal? Because residual damage is occurring here.

Finally, I don't think Book is going down for this in court, this is not an airtight case, a lot of bright legal minds don't think any federal laws were actually broken. Immoral and NCAA amateurism? Sure.

[97cats]

Is this going to get to football as well?

that's a good question, but the time and resources it would take given the amount of corruption and sheer scale of the landscape would be an almost impossible undertaking.

I can tell you this, for as bad as basketball is, College Football is 1000 times worse.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Should UCLA and other Pac-12 schools be worried?

I think the Beavers and Coogs are safe. In fact, they probably have their fingers crossed this goes nuclear.

Any successful college basketball team is probably nervous.

[YoDeFoe]

Is this going to get to football as well?

that's a good question, but the time and resources it would take given the amount of corruption and sheer scale of the landscape would be an almost impossible undertaking.

I can tell you this, for as bad as basketball is, College Football is 1000 times worse.

Football is a different system though right? Instead of money flowing from a central location (shoe companies) it comes to players from boosters that surround the programs.

[MrBug708]

Should UCLA and other Pac-12 schools be worried?

I think the Beavers and Coogs are safe. In fact, they probably have their fingers crossed this goes nuclear.

Any successful college basketball team is probably nervous.

I read a pretty hilarious post blaming Craig Robinson and Obama for complaining about how OSU couldn't compete with the big boys and so the FBI got involved

[ZONACAT]

How awesome would it be for the community to rally around Miller and AZ basketball. Like, fuck this, and go balls to the wall support, 10x the red/blue game, not be intimidated or cowards in the face of adversity. Get in the fox hole, run towards the gunfire, nothing will stop us. That would keep Miller here for the long haul, we are fam.

Miller isn't going anywhere, the UNC dream died on Tuesday.

[LBdCactus]

Was this taken at the Hoover building?

Cal doesn't look too worried!

[ZONACAT]

Should UCLA and other Pac-12 schools be worried?

I think the Beavers and Coogs are safe. In fact, they probably have their fingers crossed this goes nuclear.

Any successful college basketball team is probably nervous.

I read a pretty hilarious post blaming Craig Robinson and Obama for complaining about how OSU couldn't compete with the big boys and so the FBI got involved

FIFA went down because they thwarted Bill Clinton for Qatari money. FBI is a political organization now.

[MrBug708]

Wonder when Basnight comes in as the star witness?

[UofAlum05]

Is this going to get to football as well?

Football is dirty but dirty in a different way. NFL players don't get the big shoe company endorsements and HS Football doesn't have can't miss prospects like basketball. This probe is on the shoe companies.

[ZONACAT]

Wonder when Basnight comes in as the star witness?

These past two days have been the best of his life. His twitter is how mine would be if Kentucky/Kansas/UCLA went down.

[NYCat]

Is this going to get to football as well?

Football is dirty but dirty in a different way. NFL players don't get the big shoe company endorsements and HS Football doesn't have can't miss prospects like basketball. This probe is on the shoe companies.

You mean kids on the streets aren't rocking the latest cleats?

[WildcatStunner]

Wow, this thread really does have it all.

[CalStateTempe]

I like how Sonny Vacarro is the go to guy about this all of a sudden

Lol no kidding!

Da da da Dah Dah da dummmm....

(Cue College bb cbs tourney anthem)

[Spaceman Spiff]

Is the FBI giving Sean and Arizona a note to give to the NCAA? The idea that Sean would let knowingly let Book commit NCAA infractions which would tarnish Lute's program is curious to me. FBI or not.

Because now, there is no doubt, Book will flip and he has been with Sean a very, very long time. I always thought he wasn't previously fired after the suspension because he knew too much.I didn't think Book would say a word before I read 97's thoughts on the matter.

And if Sean did let the FBI do their thing, without impingement, why hasn't the University forcefully come out and said as much. Our brand and Miller's reputation is getting destroyed in the meantime. When is the reveal? Because residual damage is occurring here.

Finally, I don't think Book is going down for this in court, this is not an airtight case, a lot of bright legal minds don't think any federal laws were actually broken. Immoral and NCAA amateurism? Sure.

The implication is that Miller succesfully compartmentalized Book and let him make his own mistakes in a way that would not directly impact Miller or Arizona.

Frankly, it really hasn't. Book and Quinerly are the only people really lost in this (I assume Quinerly is done). That could change, but right now, there's nothing in the FBI complaint that implicates Miller or Arizona in anything more than employing Book.

If **** was about to get real, we could be much worse off. The Adidas focus of the investigation did not chip away at our actual recruiting base.

Why would the FBI try to flip Book to get at Miller or AZ? The FBI has been focused on the bribers so far, and clearly more exist. There's a reason Nike was next today. The NCAA might care about Miller and Arizona more than the money source, but the FBI isn't the NCAA.

[UofAlum05]

Is this going to get to football as well?

Football is dirty but dirty in a different way. NFL players don't get the big shoe company endorsements and HS Football doesn't have can't miss prospects like basketball. This probe is on the shoe companies.

You mean kids on the streets aren't rocking the latest cleats?

I think its hilarious that Byrne is trying to act all honorable and firing that basketball employee. It doesn't get much dirtier than Alabama Football.

[Spaceman Spiff]

How awesome would it be for the community to rally around Miller and AZ basketball. Like, fuck this, and go balls to the wall support, 10x the red/blue game, not be intimidated or cowards in the face of adversity. Get in the fox hole, run towards the gunfire, nothing will stop us. That would keep Miller here for the long haul, we are fam.

Miller isn't going anywhere, the UNC dream died on Tuesday.

No college basketball team is looking to make any move right now. Anyone you hire, you have to hold your breath for 3 months until the scandal settles and you can feel like you're not going to get a show cause immediately.

It's like the CBB world has stopped spinning.

[Sean Olson]

Did Shabazz Muhammad actually walk into coach Miller's office and straight up ask for money? And did Miller tell him to get out?

[scumdevils86]

How awesome would it be for the community to rally around Miller and AZ basketball. Like, fuck this, and go balls to the wall support, 10x the red/blue game, not be intimidated or cowards in the face of adversity. Get in the fox hole, run towards the gunfire, nothing will stop us. That would keep Miller here for the long haul, we are fam.

Stop with the creepy ass military talk already.

[PennZona20]

Certainly didn't know $150k was the going rate for a star player. I suspect others didn't either or they wouldn't have mocked other schools when they were caught with what looks like low-level violations compared to $150k -- loans, plane tickets, etc. What was the point of calling other schools/coaches corrupt when we were, too?

Then there's all the talk of paying players because they can't go to movies and take a girl out on a date. What was that all about, if we all knew the going rate?

Your mistake is you think the money goes to the players directly. $150K can sometimes go directly to the players and or their families, but most of the time it's to whomever is handling that recruitment i.e. AAU coaches/directors.

Correction acknowledged, but I didn't know this either. And it still isn't clean. So can't call other schools corrupt or say "we do things the right way" when this was supposedly common knowledge.

How many people knew this? Serious question.

I'm not an expert in NCAA rules, but AAU organizations can receive $ for soft influence over players and I don't think it's a violation. The layers of handlers, summer coaches, advisors and AAU orgs have so much vitality because they can affect the thinking of players.

Why do Nike, Adidas and Under Armour pour tons of money into AAU? It's an investment in the stars of tomorrow, not a gift. If you do it right, it doesn't have to be a violation.

Bingo.

[MrBug708]

Did Shabazz Muhammad actually walk into coach Miller's office and straight up ask for money? And did Miller tell him to get out?

Shabazz was all Adidas from day 1. What's nice is ucla can't get nailed for him because they already investigated him and the NCAA lawyer screwed it all up haha

[UofAlum05]

So lets say Tim Floyd hadn't been caught on camera giving a player money. How good would that USC team have been that he turned down Arizona to go back too?

[ZONACAT]

Is the FBI giving Sean and Arizona a note to give to the NCAA? The idea that Sean would let knowingly let Book commit NCAA infractions which would tarnish Lute's program is curious to me. FBI or not.

Because now, there is no doubt, Book will flip and he has been with Sean a very, very long time. I always thought he wasn't previously fired after the suspension because he knew too much.I didn't think Book would say a word before I read 97's thoughts on the matter.

And if Sean did let the FBI do their thing, without impingement, why hasn't the University forcefully come out and said as much. Our brand and Miller's reputation is getting destroyed in the meantime. When is the reveal? Because residual damage is occurring here.

Finally, I don't think Book is going down for this in court, this is not an airtight case, a lot of bright legal minds don't think any federal laws were actually broken. Immoral and NCAA amateurism? Sure.

The implication is that Miller succesfully compartmentalized Book and let him make his own mistakes in a way that would not directly impact Miller or Arizona.

Frankly, it really hasn't. Book and Quinerly are the only people really lost in this (I assume Quinerly is done). That could change, but right now, there's nothing in the FBI complaint that implicates Miller or Arizona in anything more than employing Book.

If **** was about to get real, we could be much worse off. The Adidas focus of the investigation did not chip away at our actual recruiting base.

Why would the FBI try to flip Book to get at Miller or AZ? The FBI has been focused on the bribers so far, and clearly more exist. There's a reason Nike was next today. The NCAA might care about Miller and Arizona more than the money source, but the FBI isn't the NCAA.

Ya, the NCAA does matter here. Sean knows he can be show claused for employing Book. I believe that directly impacts Miller and Arizona. If the UofA is the true victim, and cooperated during the sting, I want that known publicly ASAP.

[Spaceman Spiff]

If anyone's interested in speculating about who got steered:

http://www.asmsports.com/asm-family" target="_blank

I still find it interesting there are zero ex-Cats even with Lauri, Chance, Kadeem and Kobi just in this year's class.

[phxcat23]

97 you said Arizona and other programs have been doing this type of stuff for years via different methods, but we were just really good at it. Now that Book got caught going off on his own, does that open things up to exposing what we were doing? If so, will that involve Miller?

[ZONACAT]

And I should clarify, I didn't mean Book would flip as in Sean going to jail. I mean flip as in NCAA violations.

[EOCT]

NineSevun, thank you for your generosity, Sir!!

[Bosy Billups]

How awesome would it be for the community to rally around Miller and AZ basketball. Like, fuck this, and go balls to the wall support, 10x the red/blue game, not be intimidated or cowards in the face of adversity. Get in the fox hole, run towards the gunfire, nothing will stop us. That would keep Miller here for the long haul, we are fam.

Stop with the creepy ass military talk already.

Literally LOL'd. Not even military, but we need to get out of the bunker, band together, circle the enemy, and charge!

[Spaceman Spiff]

And I should clarify, I didn't mean Book would flip as in Sean going to jail. I mean flip as in NCAA violations.

Why would the FBI care about NCAA violations by Miller? If they pushed Book, it would be for who gave Book the money, not whether Miller knew. The NCAA cares, but they have nothing to push Book with. He has no job and won't be coaching any time soon. I can't believe the FBI would give up a bribery case just to do work for the NCAA.

Yeah, being linked to FBI stuff is bad for us, but as 97 and other say, the FBI isn't the NCAA. Miller isn't named with the FBI and if the FBI wants info from Book, why would it be about Miller?

[SCCats]

Did Shabazz Muhammad actually walk into coach Miller's office and straight up ask for money? And did Miller tell him to get out?

Shabazz was all Adidas from day 1. What's nice is ucla can't get nailed for him because they already investigated him and the NCAA lawyer screwed it all up haha

Standard operating procedure for NCAA lawyers/investigators at this point.

[Longhorned]

And I should clarify, I didn't mean Book would flip as in Sean going to jail. I mean flip as in NCAA violations.

What carrot or stick could NCAA offer Book at this point?

Or just as vengeance? For what? Allowing Book to get in trouble for secretly putting the program at risk for money in his own pocket)

[TucsonClip]

Some more classics in here from 97. Thanks for a trip down memory lane at GOAZCATS, and the awesome info as usual!

[UAEebs86]

97,
Was the whole playing 2 point guards at the same time for real after Brandon Williams committed and we went after Quinerly, or was that just a smoke screen to let Book hang himself?

Thanks for everything, I'll hang up and take the answer off air.

[CatFanOneMil]

A couple of things,

1: The NCAA as much as I disagree with them is still a representative body governed by persons from the universities...in 2014 they made almost a billion dollars and 90% was from the mens BB tourney...they are not going to kill the cash cow...there are always buggy individuals waiting in the shadows to misdirect young talent to $ and stuff, but I still find it hard to believe that this "pay for talent" scheme is SOP for all colleges and the NCAA not knowing it, if it IS this way, they are in on it and we don't have a lot to worry about since they have Rick Pitinos tit in a wringer.

2. IF this corruption is as real as everyone supposes how come NOT.ONE.NBA.PLAYER.HAS.COME.FORWARD???? surely if this has been going on since Wooden there would be more proof than some old guys with mafia connections who were not that smart to begin with...hell look at the NBA these guys are not rocket scientists, a lot of them think they are bullet proof...I think if this is as widespread as suggested we'd have some guys singing

[Spaceman Spiff]

And I should clarify, I didn't mean Book would flip as in Sean going to jail. I mean flip as in NCAA violations.

What carrot or stick could NCAA offer Book at this point?

Or just as vengeance? For what? Allowing Book to get in trouble for secretly putting the program at risk for money in his own pocket)

He has no job, so they can't use the threat of negative consequences. They can't really offer not to show cause him, bc no school is hiring him after the FBI complaint. There's no carrot.

Plus, being labeled a snitch really kills you in basketball circles. Read what happened to Bruce Pearl after the Deon Thomas tapes. His career took decades to recover, and all he did was tape someone confessing to NCAA violatons. If Book ever wants back in the game on any level, the NCAA can't do anything for him there, and trashing Miller there would probably end his basketball career.

So, unless it wa pure spite...

[Olsondogg]

Live look into the college basketball world tomorrow:

[NYCat]

Live look into the college basketball world tomorrow:

https://streamable.com/vbn2u" target="_blank

From

https://www.reddit.com/r/collegebasketb ... /72xhnt/_/" target="_blank

[ASUHATER!]

A couple of things,

1: The NCAA as much as I disagree with them is still a representative body governed by persons from the universities...in 2014 they made almost a billion dollars and 90% was from the mens BB tourney...they are not going to kill the cash cow...there are always buggy individuals waiting in the shadows to misdirect young talent to $ and stuff, but I still find it hard to believe that this "pay for talent" scheme is SOP for all colleges and the NCAA not knowing it, if it IS this way, they are in on it and we don't have a lot to worry about since they have Rick Pitinos tit in a wringer.

2. IF this corruption is as real as everyone supposes how come NOT.ONE.NBA.PLAYER.HAS.COME.FORWARD???? surely if this has been going on since Wooden there would be more proof than some old guys with mafia connections who were not that smart to begin with...hell look at the NBA these guys are not rocket scientists, a lot of them think they are bullet proof...I think if this is as widespread as suggested we'd have some guys singing

What possible incentive would an NBA player have to come forward?

[NYCat]

NBA players always openly say how corrupt the game is

Like so

Even coaches

[CatFanOneMil]

A couple of things,

1: The NCAA as much as I disagree with them is still a representative body governed by persons from the universities...in 2014 they made almost a billion dollars and 90% was from the mens BB tourney...they are not going to kill the cash cow...there are always buggy individuals waiting in the shadows to misdirect young talent to $ and stuff, but I still find it hard to believe that this "pay for talent" scheme is SOP for all colleges and the NCAA not knowing it, if it IS this way, they are in on it and we don't have a lot to worry about since they have Rick Pitinos tit in a wringer.

2. IF this corruption is as real as everyone supposes how come NOT.ONE.NBA.PLAYER.HAS.COME.FORWARD???? surely if this has been going on since Wooden there would be more proof than some old guys with mafia connections who were not that smart to begin with...hell look at the NBA these guys are not rocket scientists, a lot of them think they are bullet proof...I think if this is as widespread as suggested we'd have some guys singing

What possible incentive would an NBA player have to come forward?

Ego...the number #1 commodity in pro sports...besides are you suggesting that this would mean nothing to them now? I can assure you if some of them went in the draft at #37 instead of #14 they'd be singing now, if you think this is as widespread as everyone is suggesting I am saying it cannot possibly be as hidden as everyone is saying...no freaking way.

[rgdeuce]

Was this taken at the Hoover building?

Cal doesn't look too worried!

Talk about contrasting honesty lol

[Chicat]

Interesting to think about how Williams seemed to decommit only to quickly claim he was hacked and still a Cat. Wonder if someone told him Quin would never suit up for us.

[CatFanOneMil]

NBA players always openly say how corrupt the game is

Like so

DID you read the article? I did, he doesn't talk about players being bought off, as a matter of fact he almost denies it, said he got no money and could not speak to that issue, his complaint is that other college athletes get paid and BB players have to park 2 blocks away in cold weather.

Go read the article the title in this context is misleading.

[CatFanOneMil]

NBA players always openly say how corrupt the game is

Like so

Even coaches

Steve Kerr does not talk about how corrupt college basketball is he simply says the NBA is purely about basketball and he doesn't have to think about all the other stuff...he does not come out and suggest there is rampant corruption in college basketball recruiting...

[ASUHATER!]

A couple of things,

1: The NCAA as much as I disagree with them is still a representative body governed by persons from the universities...in 2014 they made almost a billion dollars and 90% was from the mens BB tourney...they are not going to kill the cash cow...there are always buggy individuals waiting in the shadows to misdirect young talent to $ and stuff, but I still find it hard to believe that this "pay for talent" scheme is SOP for all colleges and the NCAA not knowing it, if it IS this way, they are in on it and we don't have a lot to worry about since they have Rick Pitinos tit in a wringer.

2. IF this corruption is as real as everyone supposes how come NOT.ONE.NBA.PLAYER.HAS.COME.FORWARD???? surely if this has been going on since Wooden there would be more proof than some old guys with mafia connections who were not that smart to begin with...hell look at the NBA these guys are not rocket scientists, a lot of them think they are bullet proof...I think if this is as widespread as suggested we'd have some guys singing

What possible incentive would an NBA player have to come forward?

Ego...the number #1 commodity in pro sports...besides are you suggesting that this would mean nothing to them now? I can assure you if some of them went in the draft at #37 instead of #14 they'd be singing now, if you think this is as widespread as everyone is suggesting I am saying it cannot possibly be as hidden as everyone is saying...no freaking way.

I still don't see any incentive there. It wouldn't change anything about their current career or pay or anything. I don't see it.

[Irish27]

Wow, this thread really does have it all.

Not everything, we need our buddy enfuego to chime in.

[YoDeFoe]

Wow, this thread really does have it all.

Not everything, we need our buddy enfuego to chime in.

I mean... do we though

[UAEebs86]

Wow, this thread really does have it all.

Not everything, we need our buddy enfuego to chime in.

He actually weighed in yesterday with a non-trolling, rational response.

I'm worried about him.