More on Chol, Majok and the upcoming response to the NCAA

David Borges of the New Haven Register weighed in today on the Angelo Chol saga, potential sanctions, and Ater Majok:

On Chol, he points out that it’s Twitter, the word of a high school, and mentions Twitter again.

On potential sanctions, he cites attorney Michael Buckner, who, according to the Hartford Courant is “…a Florida attorney who has represented numerous schools investigated by the NCAA and has worked as an NCAA consultant.”  Buckner believes that the NCAA generally docks two scholarships per athlete involved in recruiting violations.  That would mean two, if the allegations regarding Nate Miles are deemed to be true.  He allows, however, for the possibility of losing more scholarships.

Buckner also sees a postseason ban as possible, but unlikely.

Regarding Ater Majok, Borges states:

“Now, throw all this out the window if Majok’s potential departure has anything to do with recruiting violations involving him. A UConn source categorically denies that is the case. If it is, however, the Huskies are in some trouble: unlike Nate Miles, of course, Majok actually did play for the team. Honest.”

That’s a local UConn columnist allowing for the possibility that Majok is leaving due to recruiting violations.  Even Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant alludes to the possibility, and also states that a UConn source has denied that it is the case.

Look, despite being picked up on two other sites for advancing this theory, I’m not claiming that it’s true, just that it’s one possibility.  Just wondering why a guy who stated only last month (the quote from the Courant was: ” Majok said in July he couldn’t envision a scenario that would make him consider leaving UConn early, such as an opportunity to play professionally in Australia.” ) that he was staying at UConn suddenly writes, ‘ “life can take unexpected turns.. there is nothing i can do about it all i can do is keep my head up and keep working hard…” ‘  Just sounds to me more like a guy who’s getting pushed than a guy who’s leaving to go make money.

Borges’ column appears here:

http://borgesblognhr.blogspot.com/2010/08/penalty-corner.html

Another dubious blog post

The UConn Blog has taken exception with my posting on why Ater Majok may suddenly be leaving.  I actually don’t have an issue with that; it wasn’t my theory to begin with.  But it makes about as much sense to me Majok suddenly needing to leave to play professionally to support his family, when that has been an issue all along.  There’s just something here that I’m missing.

For the record, I didn’t say that UConn was “Creating an elaborate scenario under which he appears to leave on his own…” The story of Majok possibly leaving was attributed to “multiple sources” and I suspect that Jim Calhoun’s quotes were in response to questions that he probably would have preferred to answer after the September 3rd response to the NCAA.  If I wasn’t clear, in the scenario that I described, UConn  would be kicking Majok out because of his involvement in the recruiting issues as part of the response to the NCAA, not kicking him out and pretending that he’s leaving on his own.  That would make no sense at all.

I didn’t understand Jim Calhoun’s comments about Majok, any more that I’ve understood previous comments suggesting that all of issues would be explained.

As far as Majok is concerned, nothing in his tenure at UConn has made any sense:

• Why it took the NCAA so long to clear him in the first place
• Why he declared for the NBA draft before ever playing for the Huskies (although in hindsight, he probably had a better chance of being drafted then than he does not)
• Why he has repeatedly said he would stay at UConn, then seems to be leaving a week before school starts
• Why, if family is the real issue, he put one very cryptic post on Twitter then hasn’t clarified
• How he was ever ranked as the 12th or 13th best recruit in the first place

I disagree on how UConn would respond to any issues with Majok.  Compared to the alleged issues with Nate Miles, I believe that anything involved with Majok would be minor.  But I will believe what UConn will do in their response to the NCAA is prove that they are taking decisive action to fix any issues in the program.  They have already canned two assistant coaches, and brought in a very experienced, former head coach to deal with compliance, in place of a very inexperienced assistant.  I’m betting they will volunteer to give up two scholarships, and it’s not clear to me that it’s only for one year.  I can believe that Majok would be pushed out for even minor violations, to prove that the Huskies are taking a firm hand.

What has changed since the NCAA Notice of Allegations came out?  The USC football program got hammered by the NCAA, after not taking appropriate action after allegations were presented.  That’s a big time program that was punished severely, not typical for the NCAA, and I believe that the Huskies may be erring on the side of caution.

Where I am in nearly complete agreement with the The UConn Blog is on the issue of Angelo Chol.  As I posted yesterday, it makes no sense that he would have heard from the UConn staff about a loss of scholarships, and in fact there should be scholarships available whether UConn loses some or not.  Where I do have some issue is how UConn needs to use these scholarships.  If UConn has only two available for 2011, they probably need to use them in the back court to replace Walker and Beverly, not in the front court on Chol.

I’ve not seen the Angelo Chol story picked up on any of the recruiting websites, which makes me wonder if it’s even true.  Has it even been confirmed that the post came from Chol?

For the record, when I reread my ‘dubious post’ I discovered that I’d written but never actually posted my first comments about Majok possibly leaving — I referred to them in the next posting, probably to the confusion of many.  Here they are:

According to the Hartford Courant Ajou Deng Ater Majok is likely leaving UConn (according to the dreaded “multiple sources”) to play professionally and support his family.  However, according to the Courant, Jim Calhoun says it’s a possibility, not a done deal.

I don’t begrudge the need to support his family, but it seems like an odd time to make the decision, well after the end of the 2009-2010 season, and just before the start of school.

If he leaves, he will have a career record of 2.3 points and 3 rebounds per game in 26 games.  It’s hard for me to believe that he will make a big impact professionally — I think another year or two of playing college ball is his best path to improvement — but then there’s that old adage, “You can’t teach height.”  Someone will want him, if only for his height.

It’s difficult to say if the Huskies would really miss him — certainly not, if he posted similar numbers to last season.  The upside is that the Huskies are a bit front court heavy, and this might enable them to land Andre Drummond and still be able to balance the roster by adding to the backcourt.  They’d be in much worse shape if one of the guards had decided to leave.

What I’d really hate to see is for UConn to bring in a last minute ‘fringe player’ just to fill out the roster.  For some reason, the Huskies seem to feel the need to do this, and they load up with guys that will never play significant minutes (e.g., Jamaal Trice, Rob Garrison) or will play but probably shouldn’t play (Donnell Beverly).  Fortunately, there are probably no uncommitted players left at this point.

The Courant story appears here:

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-men/hc-ater-majok-0827,0,6574436.story

Angelo Chol dropping UConn from his list?

There are rumors that highly rated 2011 recruit Angelo Chol has dropped UConn from his college list, with the statement that it is due to UConn losing scholarships.

I’m having a bit of trouble believing this story – I can believe that Chol has dropped UConn from his list, but I don’t believe he has heard anything official from Connecticut about the loss of scholarships.

First, UConn has only a few days to file the response to the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations.  I would think that the Huskies would wait until it’s official before telling recruits, especially given how quickly the recruits seem to tweet to the rest of the world.

Second, UConn will likely be suggesting and implementing self sanctions.  Previous speculation has been that there will be no loss of scholarships.  I’ve never believed that; I’m guessing that the Huskies will propose a loss of two scholarships.  But for 2011, the Huskies have no committed recruits yet, and they will free up at least the scholarships of Donnell Beverly and Charles Okwandu, likely Kemba Walker, and perhaps Ater Majok if he leaves this year.  I would expect the Huskies to have at least one scholarship to offer, perhaps two if Majok leaves, perhaps more in the likely event that one or more of the freshman wash out – even if they lose two scholarships.  Of course, the Huskies are likely to reserve a scholarship for Andre Drummond in the event that he reclassifies to 2011.

Third, Chol is a highly enough recruited player, who can afford to wait to see how the situation plays out, at least for a couple of months.  If not that, at least for a week.

If Chol has in fact dropped UConn from his list, I would guess that it was more likely negative recruiting than something he heard explicitly from the UConn staff.

Finally, let’s assume that one way or another, UConn does lose two scholarships for 2011 (and perhaps beyond that).  How much are the Huskies going to regret the late signing of Enosch Wolf?  Let’s hope he proves me wrong, but I’m betting the Huskies would have been better served leaving a scholarship available.

Could Ater Majok be caught up in NCAA investigation?

I read a new theory on the Ater Majok saga yesterday — not saying that it’s true, but it was interesting nonetheless.

The question was: Is Majok leaving UConn voluntarily because he wants to play professionally overseas, or has UConn realized during the course of the investigation that he will be caught up in recruiting violations, and will therefore be ineligible?

At the time of the original allegations, there were suggestions that improprieties had occurred during Majok’s recruitment.

This would be a huge issue for Connecticut — in addition to losing Majok, the Huskies would almost certainly have to forfeit games won last year after Majok joined the team.  More importantly, it might up the punishment that will be imposed by the NCAA should they find the Huskies guilty — it would now be two players involved (Majok and Nate Miles), and Connecticut would not be able to hang their hats on “he never played for the Huskies”.

I went back to the Courant article and reread the quotes by Jim Calhoun and Majok, and neither of them refute this theory.

According to the quote by Calhoun:

‘ “We’re talking to Ater about his future, yeah,” Calhoun said. “That’s all I can say. … He hasn’t made any decision yet, but he could certainly go back and play in the Australian professional league. Nothing’s been determined yet, but there’s a chance that kind of thing could happen.” ‘

The Courant had this to say about Majok:

‘ At just past 3 a.m. Thursday, Majok posted the following on his Twitter page: “life can take unexpected turns.. there is nothing i can do about it all i can do is keep my head up and keep working hard…” ‘

When I read that the first time, it sounded like resignation from someone who was being forced to leave, but I assumed from the tone of the Courant article that it was a family situation that was forcing him to earn money.  But now that I reread it in a different context, the “…all i can do is keep my head up and keep working hard…” has more of the flavor of someone that’s getting kicked out.

Calhoun’s quote is a bit more ambiguous.  He says that Majok ‘hasn’t made any decisions yet’, which seems to imply that this has been initiated by Majok.  But the rest of his quote leaves open the possibility that Majok will leave based on what UConn decides in their response to NCAA, and that his decisions may only have to do with what he does after he leaves.

Adding to all this is the fact that Majok declared for the NBA draft in 2009, before he ever played for the Huskies, but shortly after the Yahoo story was published that revealed the allegations against UConn.  As I said earlier, Majok’s name had come in rumors at the time the allegations were released, and there was speculation that Majok was declaring for the draft because he knew there were issues.
Finally, yesterday I questioned the timing of what I assumed is Majok’s decision.  It seems a bit odd to make this decision right before the beginning of the school year, instead of at the end of the previous season.  However, we’re now about a week before the UConn response to the allegations, which is due within a week.  It could be that Connecticut has decided that the program needs to take decisive action, and that removing Majok from the program, for minor or not so minor issues, will demonstrate to the NCAA that they are taking the issues seriously.

All of the speculation should be cleared up with the Huskies’ response to the NCAA, due on September 3rd.

UConn given extension for response to recruiting allegations

UConn has been given a two week extension to respond to the NCAA allegations against the Men’s basketball program.  The original date of August 20th has been pushed back to September 3rd.

UConn issued the following statement:

“Based on requests made for an extension by involved coaches named in the May 21 notice of allegations which was subsequently supported by the University of Connecticut, the NCAA Committee on Infractions has granted an extension to all parties to submit their response.

The original due date for response was August 20 and that has been extended to September 3.

The University of Connecticut will have no further comment at this time.”

According to Neill Ostrout of the Connecticut Post, a source has said that the request for extension came from Beau Archibald.

Personally, I would just like to see UConn’s response…

Doty to miss 2010-2011 season with torn ACL

The word out of Storrs, CT today isn’t good — star guard Caroline Doty has been lost for the season with a torn ACL.

This is at least Doty’s third torn ACL in four years, not a very promising thought.  She will, however, have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

The Huskies were already going to slip somewhat — you don’t replace players like Tina Charles and Kalana Greene easily — but I thought the Huskies would still be very good.  After all, Kelly Faris seems ready to step in for Greene, meaning the only question would be in the middle.  Now, with Doty out for the season, the task becomes greater, and the Huskies will need at least a couple, maybe three, of the newcomers to come up big.  It’s likely that Bria Hartley will now need to play major minutes.

Don’t get me wrong — the Huskies will still be good — but unless the freshman really come up big, I think this team is going to struggle.  Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes, the only two remaining starters, will be very good, and I will buy the “Geno will find a way” line to some extent.  But while the incoming class is very good, they’re not Bird-Cash-Jones-Walter-Williams good, and even that group took some time to get going.

Andre Drummond Update

Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant reports that coveted 2012 recruit Andre Drummond may reclassify and become part of the Class of 2011.

Drummond, a center who is currently the top ranked player in the Class of 2012, would obviously be a great catch for the Huskies.  While UConn generally has difficulty landing players ranked this high, Drummond is from Middletown, and has played high school ball in Hartford and currently plays at St. Thomas More in Oakdale, CT.  He is reported to be a fan of the Huskies and to have played pickup games frequently at UConn, but as the top ranked recruit he will likely be able to go to any school he wants to.

It is rumored that Drummond will announce his list sometime later this month.  Right now, Rivals.com has his list as: Connecticut, Duke, Georgetown, Louisville, North Carolina, and Pittsburgh.

It’s not clear to me whether there has been talk of Drummond reclassifying, or whether Mike Anthony simply believes it’s inevitable due to NCAA regulations, which he quotes in the article.  I’m not quite sure I follow the logic.

UConn will have at least two scholarships available for 2011-2012, those of Charles Okwandu and Donnell Beverly.  Presumably, there will be a third, if Kemba Walker leaves early.  The catch, however, is that it will be difficult for the Huskies to hand out a scholarship to more than one front court player, because they’re already pretty thin in the back court.  And that all presumes that the Huskies do not lose any scholarships after the final NCAA ruling on the recruiting allegations.

Maurice Harkless: The Saga Ends

Finally getting back to posting after a few days of vacation…

Since my last post, the Maurice Harkless saga has ended, at least for the Huskies.  Harkless, who gave an early 2011 verbal commitment to the Huskies, withdrew his commitment a couple of months ago, said that UConn was off his list, then they were on his list, now the Huskies are apparently off of his list for good.

According to ZagsBlog, Harkless now lists 8 schools: St. John’s, Maryland, Florida, N.C. State, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Arizona and Memphis, and told ZagsBlog that UConn is now definitely out.  He is scheduled to take an official visit to Maryland.  I’m quite sure that Gary Williams would like nothing better than to land a recruit formally committed to UConn, given his belief that the Huskies have stolen several from the Terrapins.

Harkless, after falling from 51st in the rankings to nearly out of the Top 100, lit up the summer circuit and is now being highly recruited.  Perhaps it’s because he seems to have grown two inches in the last year — Rivals.com has him at 6’6″, while ZagsBlog lists him at 6’8″ — not sure which one is correct, but that’s a significant difference for a projected small forward.

By the way, is it just me, or is St. John’s in the mix for an incredible number of top players?  I’m sure it has something to do with the number of scholarships available next year — at least 7, replacing that many seniors this season — but Steve Lavin really seems to be making a difference.