CBSSports.com: Who do coaches think are the big cheaters?

They probably provided the quotes about each other.

 

I'm guessing Crean gets mentioned because people wonder how a team that was downright terrible before he arrived is suddenly good again. How he did it was simple, he's winning the in-state recruiting battles now. And it's not with suitcases full of cash. People in Indiana want IU to be good. (Well, outside of Tippecanoe County anyway.) It just seems natural to them. So some coach arrives at a 17 year old's door in Indianapolis and says "Would you like to help me put IU back where it belongs" of course he's saying yes.

They would get plenty of that if they asked women's basketball coaches (especially back in Rene Portland's heyday with PSU)

 

How dare John Calipari allow athletes to benefit from the millions they bring in for the school? Doesn't he know he's supposed to help suppress wages so schools can afford to pay college coaches their six- and seven-figure salaries?

But, yes, pretty absurd CBS allows a bunch of millionaires to air their petty grievances about each other anonymously--especially since all the quotes lack any real proof, and appear to be based on sour-puss losers believing anyone better than them must cheat. Parrish trying to wiggle around the lack of credibility of the question--it's about perception--is pretty cowardly. The equivalent of "I'm not a racist, but...".

 

There's some truth to that, but there was also quite a bit of luck and being in the right place at the right time. All the recruits came in a row, and were influenced by each other.
He got Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey because he missed on Kyrie Irving, Josh Selby and Jelan Kendrick. Both were fringe top-150 players at the time. And Austin Etherington committed because Crean believed in him when he was coming off microfracture surgery. Ron Patterson and Peter Jurkin both just wanted to go somewhere where they felt they could play, so they committed. And Hanner Perea has ties to Jurkin and Bloomington through A-Hope (and Baylor was threatening to deport him at the same time), so he committed. And Crean convinced Cody Zeller that Indiana was the Indiana of yore, and made sure he felt comfortable there. So then he gets Yogi Ferrell, and it's easy for Jeremy Hollowell to sign up that spring.
None of those guys grew up bleeding for IU. Probably only Jordan Hulls was once that way, but he became a Duke fan when the RMK stuff happened and had to be wooed back by Crean.

 

Next up: Who do skunks think are the smelliest animals?

 

If only he was showing up on the doorsteps of 17-year-olds. Crean's recruiting tactics leave a bad taste in the mouth. He's routinely giving scholarship offers to high school freshmen, occasionally to 8th graders (see Lyles, Trey), and has over signed his scholarship limits. Unfortunately since he's focused intensely on recruits in Indiana, at a time the state has had a particularly deep pool of elite talent, Matt Painter has followed his lead into the early offers. And then there was that unfortunate tweet of his.

I'm glad to see IU back in the mix of getting the home state talent to stay home, and college basketball is better when IU is good. But it's not like there is zero reason for the perception that Crean may be crossing the lines.

 

Beautiful.

 

Jack, the outing is here in Atlanta this weekend. I thought I'd point that out.

 

Just clicked on that linked and one thing kind of jumped out at me: It may be just semantics, but I found it telling that the first quote on Calipari from a fellow coach on him being the biggest cheater ends with "He's the best." Considering the subject matter, wouldn't it be correct to say "he's the worst." Unless, of course, these coaches admire each other's abilities to break the rules.

 

Personally I don't have a problem with this type of story, in large part because its one of a 14-part series of asking coaches about various things in college basketball.

If this was just a one-shot article allowing coaches to anonymously take aim at coaches, I'd have an issue.

That said, I can see why and understand why some are against this type of the story.

 

As an IU alumnus I am happy to see the Hoosiers becoming competitive. And I know nothing more about the program other than what I read. But my understanding is that Crean has improved recruiting through ties to the local AAU teams. Anytime I read that about about closer ties to an AAU program I become cynical.

With the exception of the 2002 team's run to the Championship game Indiana really hasn't been a power since the early nineties. Is the typical 17 year old really that gripped with returning IU to the glory days of Steve Alford?