Should the FBI take this investigation to the AAU world?
- Thread starter TwinDegrees2
- Start date
Sounds like they kind of are, wouldn't be surprised if you don't hear more in that realm given time. This thing is just starting.
Copied and pasted from my post in an earlier link:
My brother was a HS hoops coach on the south side of Chicago for 21 years (Bloom Trail HS). This AAU corruption has been going on for a looooong time. Virtually all of the AAU coaches were on the take to deliver players to colleges. My bro said the AAU coaches were far more influential than the HS coaches. The HS coaches had to win games to stay employed. No one cared if AAU teams won or lost, they were focused on developing one or two stars and getting paid when they delivered the kid.
My brother was a HS hoops coach on the south side of Chicago for 21 years (Bloom Trail HS). This AAU corruption has been going on for a looooong time. Virtually all of the AAU coaches were on the take to deliver players to colleges. My bro said the AAU coaches were far more influential than the HS coaches. The HS coaches had to win games to stay employed. No one cared if AAU teams won or lost, they were focused on developing one or two stars and getting paid when they delivered the kid.
I hope they put all of them in prison if they've done one thing wrong. AAU is the worst thing to hit the athletic world ever.
Looks like they are stepping up their game. Going after Nike too. AAU in trouble..
Pretty sure that's where this is headed. Generally law enforcement would view this as the schools being victimized by greedy athletes, parents, handlers and the like. People here aren't going to like this but no one doles out cash unless they have to. Coaches have to win to keep their jobs and players they need to win won't play if they don't get paid.
And to reiterate what a bunch of posters have written.....if they want to get paid, go play overseas or get the NBA to lift the one-and-done rule.....no place for that as a true scholarship athlete. NCAA institutions were not originally intended to be a de facto farm system. JMHO
Hell yes! AAU has grown into a beast over the last 25 years. It's totally out of control. Also, the NBA needs to open the D-League to post HS players who want cash money. Adopt the MLB rules...
The IRS can prosecute the AAU coaches and handlers who got money if they didn't claim it as income. As fraud and not just a mistake which could land them in jail which is where many of these coaches and handlers belong.
I'm guessing if they have the manpower to investigate AAU programs, a lot of so-callled coaches will be busted.
Other than no one can live on what lower than the major league pays in baseball. They can go overseas and make ten times what they could in a minor league here .... unless everything changes drastically.
Agree at the top level it's ugly but I will say AAU was actually good for my daughter at a lower level where all this mess just didn't exist.
My thoughts on the NCAA/NBA issue:
Allow players to leave directly after high school to the NBA if they so choose. Allow them to go through the same process of declaring and getting an offer for the combine and getting feedback from professionals in the know (not their handlers and friends telling them they are a lock). If a player goes directly from high school to the NBA, he must play a minimum of 2 years in the D-League which will allow that player to develop skills and make money. If a player goes to college, they must play a minimum of 2 years in college before then declaring for the draft. This is essentially a hybrid of the college/MLB and college/NFL system. Suddenly players like Michael Porter Jr. who would probably skip college make a D-league team enticing to watch and as more of those players go in to the D-League, that portion of the league becomes more viable and not a dumping ground for many players that are NBA busts.
My overall idea of this is that if an 18 year old can walk down to the Armed Forces office and sign up to potentially give up their life for their country....and 18 can be given the chance to make money in the NBA and make a bad decision if that forgo all of the advice (NBA Combine and reviews of talent) they get prior to the draft.
One thing I liked about MLB being able to draft out of HS is that they must put money into an account that is sufficent to cover that player later getting a college degree.
The G league as it is now called already is. Age requirements is 18, that's it, just no one has tried that route yet.
Why would they? The G-League as it is currently set up is a terrible option. If it's all about a year of making money, guys like Jennings, Mudiay, and Ferguson have shown you can go overseas, make a lot more than a G-League player, and still be a 1st round draft pick the following year. If it's not about the money, the NCAA route gives access to better coaching, facilities, trainers (I would assume), more playing time & media exposure, and a surer path to an NBA contract thru the draft.
I'm against all artificial age or service time requirements. The NBA should allow kids to enter the draft whenever they want whether it's after HS, frosh yr, soph yr, etc.
I'd like to see AAU get the death penalty...
Just remember it is an NBA and NBAPA agreement to change the rule not the NCAA...as far as the AAU, street agents and elite agreements signed by AAU teams with the shoe apparel companies that is where the FBI and their wire tapping, investigating companies and their bank records and signed agreements along with subpoenas are powers the NCAA never had!
How about an NCAA pain plan... student athletes accepting scholarships to play must execute binding contract that upon committing with National Letter of Intent who leave college early and play professionally in their scholarship sport are required to reimburse the school 50% of the earnings from the sport including signing bonuses and endorsements"
Ouch...
And, I am assuming NBA either allows HS grads in or suffers as a result as well.
Ouch...
And, I am assuming NBA either allows HS grads in or suffers as a result as well.
Just think about AAU travel expenses. Virtually every week in the summer, you see an AAU basketbakll team composed of poor inner city kids from Indpls going to play somewhere. Chicago one week, Cincinnati the next week, then Nashville, then Pittsburgh, then St. Louis. Those kids need hotel rooms, food, their coaches get paid, fuel costs for buses, etc. Where is the money coming from?
my friend was a HS pitcher and was drafted by the Twins. they made a promise to him to pay for his education. He blew out his arm in his second or third year in the minors , but finished his college degree, stayed within the Twins organization in a management role and became a very successful MLB GM. His name was Terry Ryan.
College opens up the fan base to the NBA. The Blazers gained a lot of fans from Indiana and sold some jerseys because of it. The D league just doesn't have the built in fan base of college kids and alumni.
Players don't really develop the D league or the NBA. They are too selfish and egos are far too high. They are far too selfish. Winning is more important on the collegiate level and team play is encouraged.
The NBA needs to protect the NCAA and they could work something out along the lines of choosing to go right in or staying for a required amount of time. The NCAA could also use somebody in charge that cares about the game and not just the money.
On a high school level, the AAU needs terminated. Make kids that participate ineligible if that is what it takes. Got to get out of the AAU/handlers/coaches/and agents. They are ruining a good thing.
Similar threads
