Tennessee Recruiting Violations

[More Cowbell]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5554682

Tennessee and Xavier recruit a lot of the same players. This should help Xavier's recruiting.

[BBC 08]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

(takes a breath)

hahahahahahahahahahaha

(I hate you Bruce Pearl)

Everyone in my office are pretty much UT fans. I think they all cried at the same time today.

[X-band '01]

Tennessee is going to be in bigger trouble for lying to the NCAA investigators. Many other places would fire Pearl for what he did, but with Tennessee's Elite 8 run last year, he gets a 25% pay cut instead. He owned his mistake in front of the media today, which was a good start.

[STL_XUfan]

During the 1988-89 basketball season, Pearl, then an assistant coach at the University of Iowa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Iowa), was at the center of a recruiting scandal involving the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Illinois_at_Urbana-Champaign). Both Illinois and Iowa were recruiting Deon Thomas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deon_Thomas), a top high school player from Chicago. Pearl lost this recruiting battle when Thomas committed to Illinois. Thereafter, Pearl called the high school student and recorded a phone conversation with Thomas. During the conversation, Pearl asked Thomas if he had been offered an SUV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUV) and cash by Illinois assistant coach Jimmy Collins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Collins_%28basketball%29), and Thomas indicated he had. Pearl then turned over copies of the tapes to the NCAA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Collegiate_Athletic_Association), accompanied by a memo describing the events. During the subsequent NCAA investigation, Thomas denied the allegations and said the story was false; a lie detector test (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie_detector_test) supported Thomas' claim. The NCAA did not find Illinois guilty of any wrongdoing relating to Thomas' recruitment, finding that the proof provided was not "credible, persuasive and of a kind on which reasonably prudent persons rely in the conduct of serious affairs."[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Pearl#cite_note-2) However, since the investigation uncovered other violations, including Illinois' third major violation in six years, the NCAA cited Illinois with a "lack of institutional control" charge and implemented several recruiting restrictions and a one-year post-season ban. The event led to a "blackballing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackball)" by many coaches in D–I, and even led ESPN commentator Dick Vitale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Vitale) to call Pearl's actions "career suicide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Career_suicide)" during a telecast.

When Pearl and Collins were both head coaches for four years in the Horizon League (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon_League), the two men never engaged in the traditional postgame handshake, reportedly due to lingering feelings over the incident. When Thomas was asked about forgiving Pearl in a 2005 interview, he was quoted as saying "It's hard to forgive a snake." Thomas went on to play basketball at the University of Illinois, becoming its all-time leading scorer.

I bet Jimmy Collins is cracking open a nice bottle of wine tonight.

[X-band '01]

One of Collins' best wins was the Horizon League Championship (believe it was 2004) at UW-Milwaukee (when Pearl was their coach) on the Panthers' home floor - Collins urged his fans to storm the floor should they pull out a win. Low and behold they did.

[waggy]

Hamilton said he hopes the NCAA will take into account the punishments he's levied against the coaching staff when it concludes its investigation and decides on any additional penalty. Attorney Mike Glazier has been hired to assist the university during the investigation.

Hamilton said he was unable to find a similar case from another athletic program where a coach acknowledged wrongdoing before being punished by the NCAA.

"There needs to be more of that in college athletics," the athletic director said. "I hope part of what you get out of this today is this is a person that stood up and did the right thing in the end by coming back forward and saying, 'I want to correct this.'

"I can tell you my interaction with him during that process, it was clearly something he initiated and was concerned about."

What a crock of shit.

[X-band '01]

I didn't catch this before - I like the fire alarm going off in the middle of his press conference. It's almost like the NCAA had someone on hand already to take any further statements he had.

Since football already has the Fulmer Cup (based on another proud UT alum), I know we had ideas for basketball's equivalent. We now have to add the Pearl Necklace as a nominee.

[GoMuskies]

There's no way Pearl should have avoided a firing here.

[DC Muskie]

Good God is Bruce Pearl pathetic. His almost crying, and his response that his players committed a crime by pulling the fire alarm, what can I say?

[wkrq59]

This is a far worse punishment than firing him and letting him go elsewhere to befoul another program. If you read the complete release and see what UT slapped him and his assistants with, you'll see a model for what should happen to any coach caught cheating. His players should also be allowed to transfer and play immediately somewhere else.

:logo::shield::sword:

[More Cowbell]

I think the NCAA is going to come down harder. I wouldn't be surprised if he was banned for coaching for a couple years. Not because of the illegal phone calls, but because he lied to the NCAA. They'll make an example out of him.

[Pete Delkus]

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/events/blog/Bruce%20Pearl.jpg
http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsP/13390-14413.gif

Bruce Pearl is a Civil War era Carpetbagger - snake oil salesman.

[principal]

"I learned that it's not OK to tell the truth most of the time, but you've got to tell the truth all of the time,"
-Bruce Pearl

This might just be the world's longest euphemism for lying. The guy didn't man up and admit what he did, he tried to smooth it over. Manning up would be to come out and say, "I thought I was above the law, I thought I'd never get caught, so I lied." But only a penitent person can say something like that, and Pearl is not such a person. He's not sorry for what he did, he's sorry he got caught. Or do you really think a 50+ year old man is just now learning that you aren't supposed to lie?

[MADXSTER]

I'm wondering why Mike Hamilton is still the athletic director. Obviously he does not have things under control within his own program.

[danaandvictory]

I'm wondering why Mike Hamilton is still the athletic director. Obviously he does not have things under control within his own program.

It's the SEC. The only thing Hamilton did wrong was get caught.

[waggy]

A 2008 photo of a top recruit at Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl's home during an unofficial visit is a major component of the NCAA's investigation of the men's basketball program, according to two reports.

The picture of Aaron Craft, now a freshman at Ohio State, was taken at Pearl's home in fall 2008, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel and CBSSports.com.

Craft was a junior who had given the Volunteers a nonbinding commitment, but his presence at Pearl's house would constitute a violation of NCAA rules, which prohibit high school juniors from interacting with college coaches off-campus during an unofficial visit.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5575856

[xubrew]

from the article...


He provided false information to the NCAA while being interviewed in June about allegations of excessive phone calls made to recruits. Pearl notified officials three weeks later that he had provided the NCAA incorrect information

just how many phone calls are we talking about here??

it didn't amount to a hill of beans. had he not lied, it's unlikely that anything would have happened to him at all. illegal phone calls are like speeding tickets. if you get fifty of them you're in deep shit, but for the most part it's not THAT big of a violation.

[waggy]

He didn't only lie about phone calls. He lied about hosting recruits off campus too.

Of course it was the lie that was the problem; nevermind the cheating... :rolleyes:

[Pluto]

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/sep/16/actions-by-pearl-give-lie-to-sincerity-of-recent/

Dan Wolken of the Memphis newspaper has a great article regarding the whole situation.

[waggy]

Viewing the reader comments/responses to a story in the Knox News Sentinal, it's amazing how the UT fans mostly blame the AD and/or the NCAA rules. The rules are too hard! That one always makes me laugh.

I hope the NCAA makes a strong statement against this sort of flaunting of the rules by coming down hard on UT. Sorry for their fans, but this constant cheating is BS.

[CleXU]

Dana O'Neil is now reporting that Justin Martin and Griffin McKenzie are listed in the report filed by Tennessee with the NCAA as two of the players the staff made to many phone calls too. Didn't seem to work out to well for Tennessee.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5597589

[waggy]

In a memo to Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive, the university attributed the excessive phone calls to "poor record keeping or miscommunication," in regards to the majority of the phone calls, but admitted that some were the result of "carelessness (i.e., forgetting that they had already made a call that week)."

Poor record keeping, miscommunication, and carelessness. Hmmm, is UT having difficulty telling the truth, again?

[xubrew]

He didn't only lie about phone calls. He lied about hosting recruits off campus too

this is a bigger deal than the phone calls, but even still, the biggest violation of all was lying about it. we're not talking about serious violations here, except for that they lied. that's what so stupid about it. it's like trying to outrun the police when the only reason they wanted to pull you over in the first place was for running a stop sign. why run?? instead of being in just a little bit of trouble, you're probably going to jail for running.

[waggy]

- Almost 100 impermissable calls
- Hosting recruits off-campus
- Paying for lodging, etc.
- Hosting recruits for more than 48 hrs.
- Who knows what else

You call these things minor brew? Looks like blatant cheating to me. The violations aren't innocent oversights.

He lied for a reason.

Because he's a cheater.

[wkrq59]

Dana O'Neil is now reporting that Justin Martin and Griffin McKenzie are listed in the report filed by Tennessee with the NCAA as two of the players the staff made to many phone calls too. Didn't seem to work out to well for Tennessee.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5597589

Unless we're all very forgetful, weren't both Kenny Frease and Brad Redford among the recruits Kelvin Sampson and his aides made phone calls too illegally, especially since they had already signed with Xavier. All I can say is Xavier must be recruiting some super players if coaches are willing to put their schools on probation and know shame in an attempt to lure away commits and/or signed players to their teams. One other thing, this is really going to hurt Tennessee and Pearl for years to come. Imagine a blue chip player asking Pearl, "Coach, are you going to still be at UT for my senior year and are there any more skeletons in the closet that might affect me if I come to your school?" And can you imaging what the parents of recruits will be asking, especially if they value a kid's education?
:logo::shield:

[xubrew]

- Almost 100 impermissable calls
- Hosting recruits off-campus
- Paying for lodging, etc.
- Hosting recruits for more than 48 hrs.
- Who knows what else

You call these things minor brew? Looks like blatant cheating to me. The violations aren't innocent oversights.

He lied for a reason.

Because he's a cheater.

by "minor" violations, i mean secondary violations. they're not all that serious. yes, they are violations, but the ncaa probably wouldn't have come down on them all that hard on them for it.

-hosting recruits off campus is not against the rules on official visits. you just can't go outside a 30 mile radius and you can't take them to a coach's house. doing it is against the rules, but not THAT serious
-paying for lodging and transportation isn't illegal either so long as it's "reasonable," which is vaguely defined. but, specifically, no first class and no five star hotels. doing it is against the rules, but not THAT serious....depending.
-hosting recruits for more than 48 hours isn't necessarily illegal either, BUT the official visit can only last 48 hours. in other words, the privileges end after 48 hours, and that includes being able to pay the recruit and the family's way back home. doing it is against the rules, but not THAT serious.
-impermissable phone calls won't get you in that much trouble either....unless you lie about it. i'd go so far to say that there isn't a single ncaa div1 school that hasn't made impermissable phone calls at some point, even if it was inadvertently.

bruce pearl is in deep doodoo because he lied. he wouldn't be in all that much trouble had he been up front about it. everything he did is considered a secondary violation. he would have received something between a letter of reprimand and minimal loss of recruiting privileges. now, he's looking at something far more serious.

[waggy]

Wow. Pearl could use a guy like you.

[xubrew]

Wow. Pearl could use a guy like you.

someone like me?? you mean someone that openly calls him an idiot and thinks what he did was stupid??

what is it that i'm saying that you disagree with??

i'm not judging his intent. i'm merely stating that the other than lying, all of the violations were secondary violations. that is not an opinion. it is a statement of fact. because they were secondary violations, it is my belief that he wouldn't have been in all that much trouble. however, because he lied, he IS in a lot of trouble.

don't misunderstand me in thinking that i'm condoning what he did. i'm not. i'm merely stating that the violations weren't serious in the eyes of the ncaa, and therefore it was stupid to lie about it.

[waggy]

i'm merely stating that the other than lying, all of the violations were secondary violations. that is not an opinion. it is a statement of fact.

Is this information available online?

[XU 87]

I bet Jimmy Collins is cracking open a nice bottle of wine tonight.

I've never understood why Pearl got so much $hit for doing this. He asked a recruit if the recruit received a car and other improper benefits, the recruit said he did , Pearl taped the conversation, and turned the tape over to the NCAA.

So help me out, what exactly did Pearl do that was wrong?

[waggy]

Also was wondering how Kelvin Sampson's violations were different than Pearl's?

[Juice]

Also was wondering how Kelvin Sampson's violations were different than Pearl's?

Wasn't Kelvin already on probation for stuff he did at Oklahoma?

[xubrew]

Is this information available online?

450 pages of rules, regulations, bylaws and policies. knock yourself out...

http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D111.pdf



Also was wondering how Kelvin Sampson's violations were different than Pearl's?

they're actually pretty similiar, especially in the sense that the major violations stemmed from covering up the secondary violations. sampson was also a repeat offender, and i believe he was even still being investigated for giving false and misleading information at oklahoma, when he turned around and gave false and misleading information again.

[waggy]

End of page 319 and start of page 320 gives the definitions of secondary and major violations. You are correct that each violation, if singular, would be a secondary violation. In my view however, due to the number of violations, it would constitute a major violation.

I see no mention of lying, but I only read exactly what I was looking for...

[xubrew]

check out bylaw 13.6.7.7.1 on page 115. more proof that pearl is a moron. coaches CAN bring recruits to their house during an official visit so long as they're not providing any excessive entertainment.

the picture of the recruit at pearl's house wouldn't have incriminated him of anything had he just admitted that he had the kid at his house. pearl is guilty because he lied about something that wasn't against the rules in the first place. wow.

as far as a bunch of secondary violations adding up to a major violation, it really doesn't work that way....at least as i understand it. 50,000 impermissable phone calls won't ever add up to something like academic fraud, or false certification, or betting on sports, or things like that. i know that it says that it may be considered a secondary violation, but again, more vague wording.

[waggy]

You're wrong brew. First off, the visit was not an official one. But whatever. Check out the flow chart on page 415. A notice of inquiry had already been made, meaning the NCAA had already determined it was of a major nature.

Maybe you can just throw out a short list of other institutions that have had bigger violations?

[xubrew]

You're wrong brew. First off, the visit was not an official one. But whatever. Check out the flow chart on page 415. A notice of inquiry had already been made, meaning the NCAA had already determined it was of a major nature.

Maybe you can just throw out a short list of other institutions that have had bigger violations?

i didn't realize it wasn't an official visit. that would make it more serious, but i still think that giving false and misleading information will ultimately be the backbreaker

schools that have HAD bigger violations?? as in past tense??

-pretty much all the other teams in the sec at one time or another.
-the smu death penalty comes to mind.
-unlv in the 1990s comes to mind.
-fresno state comes to mind.
-saint bonaventure comes to mind.
-baylor having to cancel half of a season comes to mind.
-florida state with academic fraud recently.
-texas a&m corpus christi with false certification.
-usc with reggie bush and oj mayo.
-ohio state having to vacate the final four because of academic fraud.
-michigan with the fab five.
-arizona state's point shaving incidents in the 1990s
-michigan football with it's illegal practices


when it comes to serious, program changing violations, i don't think this even think this measures on the rictor scale. i'm not saying it's not serious, but it's far from coming close to topping the charts. there are a few planets in between.

[waggy]

About half of those you listed are definitely more serious. The other half, meh.

The lying would fall under unethical behavior, so it is a serious component. But taken on the whole this is a major violation regardless. Nobody's dead though, which is good.

[xubrew]

anything dealing with academic fraud, improper certification or gambling is going to be deemed much more serious than anything bruce pearl did.

it will be interesting to see how this is dealt with by the ncaa. they may do nothing in addition to what has already been done. they may lower the boom in a big way. actually, neither one would surprise me all that much. the infractions committee is as unpredictable and inconsistent as anything.

[muskiefan82]

i didn't realize it wasn't an official visit. that would make it more serious, but i still think that giving false and misleading information will ultimately be the backbreaker

schools that have HAD bigger violations?? as in past tense??

-pretty much all the other teams in the sec at one time or another.
-the smu death penalty comes to mind.
-unlv in the 1990s comes to mind.
-fresno state comes to mind.
-saint bonaventure comes to mind.
-baylor having to cancel half of a season comes to mind.
-florida state with academic fraud recently.
-texas a&m corpus christi with false certification.
-usc with reggie bush and oj mayo.
-ohio state having to vacate the final four because of academic fraud.
-michigan with the fab five.
-arizona state's point shaving incidents in the 1990s
-michigan football with it's illegal practices


when it comes to serious, program changing violations, i don't think this even think this measures on the rictor scale. i'm not saying it's not serious, but it's far from coming close to topping the charts. there are a few planets in between.

Tulane got in serious trouble too a while back.

[STL_XUfan]

as far as a bunch of secondary violations adding up to a major violation, it really doesn't work that way....at least as i understand it. 50,000 impermissable phone calls won't ever add up to something like academic fraud, or false certification, or betting on sports, or things like that. i know that it says that it may be considered a secondary violation, but again, more vague wording.

The NCAA can find a "lack of institutional control" which can come with some pretty stiff penalties for a plethora of secondary violations.

[XUglow]

The NCAA is very much against people telling them lies, and they have come down hard on individuals for telling fibs. It would set a bad precedent for them if they give Pearl a slap on the wrist after he has admitted to lying.

Even though Pearl has never been nailed for violations, he has been involved in a number of things that wouldn't pass a smell test. He still has a ton of supporters at UT, but a lot of my UT friends are very uncomfortable with the perception that UT is a win-at-any-cost basketball program.

[SlimKibbles]

The NCAA is very much against people telling them lies, and they have come down hard on individuals for telling fibs. It would set a bad precedent for them if they give Pearl a slap on the wrist after he has admitted to lying.

Even though Pearl has never been nailed for violations, he has been involved in a number of things that wouldn't pass a smell test. He still has a ton of supporters at UT, but a lot of my UT friends are very uncomfortable with the perception that UT is a win-at-any-cost basketball program.

A poster, who is a big UT fan (and supposedly has inside sources with the athletic program), on another website that I frequent mentioned today that Pearl is going to step down within the next 24 hours.

[GoMuskies]

Seriously, how does Pearl still have a job?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5648545

[waggy]

I like how an earlier story says that Pearls contract may be the reason. How does Pearl end up with a contract that doesn't allow him to be fired, unless the university wants (needs) it to be that way? Things that make you go hmmm.

[xubrew]

it's really just another example of someone breaking the same rules over and over and over again, and not having anything happen to them. there are people that commit secondary violations all the time, and then just self report them knowing that it is very unlikely that anything will happen to them. pearl is apparently one of them. he'll probably do it again, and he'll probably get away with it. seemingly 99% of the time, this kind of stuff never makes the news. this probably wouldn't have either had he not lied and had tennessee not been under investigation for so many other things.

[SixFig]

If Tennessee doesn't get a major hit from the NCAA soon I might lose my already tenous faith in its supposed rules and moral authority.

Seriously, if the NCAA wants change it has to cut off the beast at its head and make a show of those programs and coaches that f### with it. To quote Boardwalk Empire: "you can't be half a gangster"

[GoMuskies]

had he not lied

But he did. It was nice of him to come forward and clear things up once he found out the NCAA had a picture of the kid at his house.

He should be fired yesterday.

[wkrq59]

Brew, SixFig et al,
If you have the time, sift through the NCAA archives or the archives of the Dallas Morning News or the Ft. Worth Telegram or the Austin American Statesman and get a look at the misdeeds which led to the NCAA slapping Southern Methodist with the "Death Penalty." The only school to get that penalty.
Then check out the NCAA's dealings with Texas A & M at the time. Your respect for the NCAA will plummet even further if indeed you have any respect for that august collection of good-ole-boys and girls.
The antics of Bruce Pearl, John Calipari, Jackie Sherrill, Eddie Sutton and Rick Pitino will continue and flourish even though they are occasionally slapped on the wrists by the collection of BCS college athletics lackeys.
If you look carefully at the old Southwest Conference football and basketball coaches but especially the football coaches and boosters you'll realise what probably hastened the death of Walt Jacoby, former commissioner of the SWC. One SWC coach told me back then, "Son, the only reason any SWC coach or school gets caught and put on probation is 'cause some other conference coach or coaches turned him into the NCAA. The secret to running a successful program in the SWC," he continued, "is don't do three thangs: Steal a recruit from him after he's done all the work and got a commitment, don't boast about how you out-worked another conference coach and don't mess with his wife or girl friend, probably the latter more than the former."
Now, today, check out the SEC, those paragons of collegiate football virtue. There isn't one of them that is clean and without so-called minor-violation sin. What are the minor violations? The answer to that is : "Only those violations that can't be traced to your door. "
The majors? Academic fraud, lack of institutional control and excessive financial aid or in kind, to a recruit or enrolled student athlete.
But the greatest of all the sins is lying to the NCAA.
If ever a school deserves the death penalty, it's U-Tennessee. But then so does South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, both Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Auburn, LSU, and Kentucky for basketball. About the only one who cold escape investigation is Vanderbilt, because most of the time their teams suck but the money keeps rolling in and the president changed the way the school's athletics department works.
The NCAA is a bunch of hypocrites, on the cell phones or social media (email, face book, twitter) but especially the cell phones. Supposedly the limited call rule is to protect the recruit and his family. Show me a cell phone that doesn't have caller ID. And any family of any recruit can have caller ID, or simply have all calls switched to voice mail. It's simple. If you don't want to take a coach's call, DON'T.
While the NCAA cracks down on lying and cell phones, they ignore the biggest problem of all, the shoe companies and their agents and tournaments under the aegis of the AAU and a bunch of high school or other coaches who are well paid and have all kinds of incentives to start recruiting 7-8-9-and 10 year-olds for their future AAU teams. That pile of sewage won't be treated any time soon for one reason---M O N E Y.
I won't go into my fears for the Xaviers, the Gonzagas, Creightons and a few others. That's for another time.
A while back it was asked if Bruce Pearl should be fired. I said "no" at that time. I still say no, because he's no bigger crook than many, many of his contemporaries. Just a bit more brazen.:D:D

[xubrew]

i hear ya, wkrq. my frustration isn't so much with pearl. he is a mere microcosm of what i'm frustrated with. my frustration is the precedent that when it comes to secondary violations, 50th time offenders are treated no differently than first time offenders, despite their knowledge and intent of the rules.

so, why stop?? a lot of them don't.

i'm dissapointed that earlier in the thread i came off to some people as if i was defending pearl. i'm not. i was merely pointing out that things like this aren't dealt with all that harshly (minus the lying, of course), even toward people who do it all the time. pearl is not alone. i'd say that i'm fairly certain he's nowhere close to the worst. it's just that he's in the news for it because of the other circumstances surrounding him and UT right now.

[sash19]

i hear ya, wkrq. my frustration isn't so much with pearl. he is a mere microcosm of what i'm frustrated with. my frustration is the precedent that when it comes to secondary violations, 50th time offenders are treated no differently than first time offenders, despite their knowledge and intent of the rules.

so, why stop?? a lot of them don't.

i'm dissapointed that earlier in the thread i came off to some people as if i was defending pearl. i'm not. i was merely pointing out that things like this aren't dealt with all that harshly (minus the lying, of course), even toward people who do it all the time. pearl is not alone. i'd say that i'm fairly certain he's nowhere close to the worst. it's just that he's in the news for it because of the other circumstances surrounding him and UT right now.


One more point on the recruits being at his home-this is not allowed for juniors and younger, Selby and Craft were juniors. Seniors can go to a coaches home but no one younger. Pearl also got into trouble at UW-Milwaukee for the same thing. He didnt learn his lesson the first time because he doesnt care. Dude is a piece of trash who doesnt deserve his job.

[xubrew]

recruits can only visit a coach's home during official visits. if they're seniors, but aren't on official visits, it is still a violation.


Pearl also got into trouble at UW-Milwaukee for the same thing. He didnt learn his lesson the first time because he doesnt care.

i think he DID learn his lesson. the lesson is that no matter how many times you break rules like that, there isn't much of a penalty.

[Juice]

The funny thing about all of this is that Pearl used to call the NCAA on other programs who committed violations

[Masterofreality]

Posted 9/22


A poster, who is a big UT fan (and supposedly has inside sources with the athletic program), on another website that I frequent mentioned today that Pearl is going to step down within the next 24 hours.

It has now been 312 hours. So much for this "impeachable" source.

Unless by "step down" it was meant that Pearl was going into the basement.

[X-band '01]

The funny thing about all of this is that Pearl used to call the NCAA on other programs who committed violations

Absolutely correct - how hard do you think Jimmy Collins was laughing when this whole story broke?

[X-band '01]

Brew, SixFig et al,
If you have the time, sift through the NCAA archives or the archives of the Dallas Morning News or the Ft. Worth Telegram or the Austin American Statesman and get a look at the misdeeds which led to the NCAA slapping Southern Methodist with the "Death Penalty." The only school to get that penalty.
Then check out the NCAA's dealings with Texas A & M at the time. Your respect for the NCAA will plummet even further if indeed you have any respect for that august collection of good-ole-boys and girls.
The antics of Bruce Pearl, John Calipari, Jackie Sherrill, Eddie Sutton and Rick Pitino will continue and flourish even though they are occasionally slapped on the wrists by the collection of BCS college athletics lackeys.
If you look carefully at the old Southwest Conference football and basketball coaches but especially the football coaches and boosters you'll realise what probably hastened the death of Walt Jacoby, former commissioner of the SWC. One SWC coach told me back then, "Son, the only reason any SWC coach or school gets caught and put on probation is 'cause some other conference coach or coaches turned him into the NCAA. The secret to running a successful program in the SWC," he continued, "is don't do three thangs: Steal a recruit from him after he's done all the work and got a commitment, don't boast about how you out-worked another conference coach and don't mess with his wife or girl friend, probably the latter more than the former."
Now, today, check out the SEC, those paragons of collegiate football virtue. There isn't one of them that is clean and without so-called minor-violation sin. What are the minor violations? The answer to that is : "Only those violations that can't be traced to your door. "
The majors? Academic fraud, lack of institutional control and excessive financial aid or in kind, to a recruit or enrolled student athlete.
But the greatest of all the sins is lying to the NCAA.
If ever a school deserves the death penalty, it's U-Tennessee. But then so does South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, both Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Auburn, LSU, and Kentucky for basketball. About the only one who cold escape investigation is Vanderbilt, because most of the time their teams suck but the money keeps rolling in and the president changed the way the school's athletics department works.
The NCAA is a bunch of hypocrites, on the cell phones or social media (email, face book, twitter) but especially the cell phones. Supposedly the limited call rule is to protect the recruit and his family. Show me a cell phone that doesn't have caller ID. And any family of any recruit can have caller ID, or simply have all calls switched to voice mail. It's simple. If you don't want to take a coach's call, DON'T.
While the NCAA cracks down on lying and cell phones, they ignore the biggest problem of all, the shoe companies and their agents and tournaments under the aegis of the AAU and a bunch of high school or other coaches who are well paid and have all kinds of incentives to start recruiting 7-8-9-and 10 year-olds for their future AAU teams. That pile of sewage won't be treated any time soon for one reason---M O N E Y.
I won't go into my fears for the Xaviers, the Gonzagas, Creightons and a few others. That's for another time.
A while back it was asked if Bruce Pearl should be fired. I said "no" at that time. I still say no, because he's no bigger crook than many, many of his contemporaries. Just a bit more brazen.:D:D

It's never a good thing when your school is caught red-handed with a slush fund dedicated to paying off recruits (namely SMU). It's also not good when your program isn't as big as the major players but big enough that the NCAA will make an example out of you.

As for A&M, how many people have read the book The Junction Boys? Bear Bryant had a slush fund for recruits going on at A&M when he took that job. Even after a 1-win season, A&M was slapped with 2 years of probation. They won the SWC in Bryant's 3rd season but they were barred from playing in the Cotton Bowl that season.

[GoMuskies]

SMU was about as big as they get back in those days. Craig James was a beast.

[X-band '01]

Craig James and Eric Dickerson = The Pony Express

[wkrq59]

It's never a good thing when your school is caught red-handed with a slush fund dedicated to paying off recruits (namely SMU). It's also not good when your program isn't as big as the major players but big enough that the NCAA will make an example out of you.

As for A&M, how many people have read the book The Junction Boys? Bear Bryant had a slush fund for recruits going on at A&M when he took that job. Even after a 1-win season, A&M was slapped with 2 years of probation. They won the SWC in Bryant's 3rd season but they were barred from playing in the Cotton Bowl that season.

Jackie Sherrill had a bigger slush fund and the NCAA ignored it. As far as Bryant was concerned, I saw him long after he was of consequence. I attended his last press conference, he walked into the tent, had to be helped up the stairs to the chair behind the desk and they had to turn the mic up so high that most of what we heard was static and slurs, which the SID sitting along side him translated. He took about five or six questions from the local boys and two each from me and the Enquirer reporter and raised his hand as a stop signal, was handed a glass of water (I think) and stood up and left the tent. A couple or three months after that final press conference post-game, he died. It was a sad thing to see I think Tom Berenger did an excellent job portraying him in Junction Boys. My whole point about the SMU death penalty was that almost every member of the SWC --Texas, Oklahoma and OK State, Arkansas, A & M cheated just as much if not more than SMU but weren't caught or prosecuted because the NCAA was too busy digging into SMU.
It's the same with the olden basketball days. The NCAA got so mad at Kentucky they gave Cleveland State two more years of probation.
:logo::shield:

[Cheesehead]

Ok, I get that Pearl violated this home rule thing not only at UWM but also at UT but am I the only one who thinks this rule is just flat out dumb? For the record, I have always thought Pearl had a sleeze factor to him but I think the man can coach.

When I was in grad school, one of my professors invited the entire group of us in the master's program to his house for a cookout. What if Fr. Graham had students over to his apt. for dinner? What's the difference? I can recall having pasta dinners at LaRocca's while at X. The NCAA is a joke.

[xubrew]

Ok, I get that Pearl violated this home rule thing not only at UWM but also at UT but am I the only one who thinks this rule is just flat out dumb? For the record, I have always thought Pearl had a sleeze factor to him but I think the man can coach.

When I was in grad school, one of my professors invited the entire group of us in the master's program to his house for a cookout. What if Fr. Graham had students over to his apt. for dinner? What's the difference? I can recall having pasta dinners at LaRocca's while at X. The NCAA is a joke.

it isn't so much that he had them over to his house. it's that it falls under the category of improper contact with a recruit off campus. had it been an official visit, it would have been completely legal. if it was someone that was already a student at the school, going to la roccas is also perfectly legal, as is going to a cookout such as the one you described (so long as it isn't being held exclusively for student-athletes, but open to students in general).

had pearl met him at wendy's and not at his house, it would have still been a violation. not so much because of where they were, but because of where they were NOT. coaches cannot be in contact with recruits off campus during unofficial visits.

[Cheesehead]

it isn't so much that he had them over to his house. it's that it falls under the category of improper contact with a recruit off campus. had it been an official visit, it would have been completely legal. if it was someone that was already a student at the school, going to la roccas is also perfectly legal, as is going to a cookout such as the one you described (so long as it isn't being held exclusively for student-athletes, but open to students in general).

had pearl met him at wendy's and not at his house, it would have still been a violation. not so much because of where they were, but because of where they were NOT. coaches cannot be in contact with recruits off campus during unofficial visits.

ok, I guess I can see that. Thanks for the info. I still hate the NCAA. Bunch of hypocrites.

[xubrew]

ok, I guess I can see that. Thanks for the info. I still hate the NCAA. Bunch of hypocrites.

me too...

[Retire33]

http://twitter.com/#!/ESPNAndyKatz

- SEC just announced a few minutes ago that Bruce Pearl has been suspended for the first eight league games due to NCAA violations.

- What's bizarre is that this means Pearl can coach against UConn on Jan. 22 since this is just an SEC suspension.

- Odd that he can be suspended, come back and then be suspended again.

Such an odd suspension, you always wonder what the NCAA is doing? We not come to the conclusion a week ago and just suspend him for the first 8 games of the season instead of dragging their feet and then arriving at this bizarre punishment.

You have to wonder if he gets fired now he has a true violation which is breach of his contract.

[xubrew]

Such an odd suspension, you always wonder what the NCAA is doing? We not come to the conclusion a week ago and just suspend him for the first 8 games of the season instead of dragging their feet and then arriving at this bizarre punishment

it is the sec that has suspended him, not the ncaa. we probably won't hear from them or know what they're thinking for another eighteen months or so.

[Retire33]

it is the sec that has suspended him, not the ncaa. we probably won't hear from them or know what they're thinking for another eighteen months or so.

Ok...that makes a little more sense. Still odd he gets to coach one game in middle of the suspension.

[X-band '01]

Please tell me he'll pull a John Chaney and suspend himself for that game.

[waggy]

Spin, spin, spin (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5835516)

[GoMuskies]

Bruce Pearl = Jesus? His wife thinks so.

http://kentuckysportsradio.com/?p=64890

[X-band '01]

I'd take anything off of Facebook with a grain of salt.

If that really is Mrs. Pearl, she needs to get a clue.

[XUglow]

Pearl gets nabbed cheating and lying and Jesus. The same. Got it.

[danaandvictory]

"And that's why this is so humbling and humiliating,'' Pearl said. "I'm hurt, and my character is on trial."

You cheated and lied to the NCAA. You have no character. You're fortunate to have a job, but, with any luck, you'll be out on your ass soon. Any adversity or struggle you face right now is completely your own doing, because you are a liar and a cheat.

[XUglow]

"And that's why this is so humbling and humiliating,'' Pearl said. "I'm hurt, and my character is on trial."

You cheated and lied to the NCAA. You have no character. You're fortunate to have a job, but, with any luck, you'll be out on your ass soon. Any adversity or struggle you face right now is completely your own doing, because you are a liar and a cheat.

This.

Sorry, Bruce. Trial is over. You were found guilty.

...and you are hurt because you got caught.

[principal]

This.

Sorry, Bruce. Trial is over. You were found guilty.

...and you are hurt because you got caught.

Amen and amen.