# Knight: 'Calipari lacks integrity'



## apelman42

This is why I absolutely love the general. He isn't afraid to call anyone out.

From the AP:

Bob Knight said integrity is lacking in college basketball and cited Kentucky coach John Calipari as an example.

During a fundraiser for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, Knight said he doesn’t understand why Calipari is still coaching.....

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ap-knight-calipari&prov=ap&type=lgns


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## Dornado

yeah... nothing says "integrity" like Bobby Knight....


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## TucsonClip

Knight is just mad because Cal has never been linked in an investigation, something he couldnt do.

Jealousy


You can talk about integrity all you want, but Cal isnt even as slimey as many of the other basketball coaches, let alone football.


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## bball2223

TucsonClip said:


> Knight is just mad because Cal has never been linked in an investigation, something he couldnt do.
> 
> Jealousy
> 
> 
> *You can talk about integrity all you want, but Cal isnt even as slimey as many of the other basketball coaches, let alone football*.


:laugh:


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## zagsfan20

Calipari and Calhoun are about as slimey as they come.


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## HB

Cal's slimey no doubt, but I dont agree about the integrity part


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## Willo

Please, if we're going to talk about slimy basketball coaches, it's going to start with Huggins.


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## GNG

TucsonClip said:


> Knight is just mad because Cal has never been linked in an investigation, something he couldnt do.
> 
> Jealousy
> 
> You can talk about integrity all you want, but Cal isnt even as slimey as many of the other basketball coaches, let alone football.


Sorry, but Bob Knight's not jealous of _John Calipari_.


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## TM

it's just indiana vs. kentucky talk. who cares


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## kansasalumn

I agree with Knight, why is he is coaching, He pays his players and has other students to take ACT exams (ala Derrick Rose)


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## Diable

Calipari wants to win just like everyone else and as long as he wins he has the license to do whatever it takes. He's just more tied into the culture of the street agents and all the undercover quasi professional stuff that goes hand and hand with AAU ball now. If you gave every coach in the country the oppurtunity to do the stuff he does most of them would do it just to compete. Of course the difference is that you have institutional control at most universities. Calipari gets paid millions to do what he does and the guys signing the checks aren't really asking many questions so long as their butts are covered.


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## apelman42

Dornado said:


> yeah... nothing says "integrity" like Bobby Knight....


Bobby Knight had many issues, but he was never a cheater (put on probation).


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## SheriffKilla

Willo said:


> Please, if we're going to talk about slimy basketball coaches, it's going to start with Huggins.


Huggins isnt as bad as some.. He just doesnt mind to take on troubled kids, that some coaches avoid because they are afraid they might flame out
I think Tim Floyd was the worst when it comes to recruiting
Rick Stansbury has to be up there as any coach that would try to recruit Renardo Sidney has to be on the list
Calipari is up there
Its easy to find these guys, just look for anyone with a lot of one and dones and players that went to the league straight from HS but would have played for the coach
You know there is some sort of under the table benefits there most of the time
Of course that also shows you some of the best recruits as most of those players are the biggest talents also


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## TucsonClip

Cinco de Mayo said:


> Sorry, but Bob Knight's not jealous of _John Calipari_.


You dont think he isnt jealous that Cal continues to keep getting good gigs and getting huge bucks, despite the vacated Fianl Fours and investigations, while Knight was banished to Texas Tech? 

How about Cal being UA's next coach before UK came calling, and Knight having the balls to lobby for the UA job (despite hating Lute) and being laughed at and discarded.

Oops, probably shouldnt have mentioned that.

Either way, Cal is no saint, but if the rules are broken at his schools he isnt involved. Not saying he didnt look away while it happened, but he doesnt go around putting cash in players pockets or telling kids if they attend a school their coach will die before they leave/graduate.


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## HB

Knight has won more games and more titles than Cal. Shouldn't it be the other way round? I think Knight being someone who cares about the game is disgusted about what its turned into.


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## kansasalumn

HB said:


> Knight has won more games and more titles than Cal. Shouldn't it be the other way round? I think Knight being someone who cares about the game is disgusted about what its turned into.


maybe that is why he retired


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## GNG

TucsonClip said:


> You dont think he isnt jealous that Cal continues to keep getting good gigs and getting huge bucks, despite the vacated Fianl Fours and investigations, while Knight was banished to Texas Tech?


When Bob Knight has 900 wins and multiple championships? No, I don't think he's jealous of John Calipari.


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## TucsonClip

Cinco de Mayo said:


> When Bob Knight has 900 wins and multiple championships? No, I don't think he's jealous of John Calipari.


Yeah I agree with that, but Knight cant/couldnt buy a good gig because of the Indiana saga. 

Meanwhile, a guy who just had 2 Final Four's vacated got one of the best jobs in college hoops and is getting paid like a football coach...


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## Willo

Bob Huggins recruits thugs, uses them until they become academically ineligable, and replaces them with new ones.

His Cincinnati teams had the lowest graduation rate of any team, any sport in the nation.


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## HB

Did anyone listen to Knight's comments on 'one and done' players and how it was damaging the game. Thought it was very insightful, didnt know all they needed was 6 hours and a D- average to remain eligible, they dont even need to go to class in the second semester.


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## SheriffKilla

True, but he recruits thugs without calling them 3000 times a day and handing shady event promoters cash envelopes(as far as known)
I gotta say that Delonte Hill move was kind of suspect, but I think it was more strategy than anything. I mean Hill is a big name amongst kids in DC area, doesnt mean necessarily he is doing anything illegal, so hiring him was a good move besides getting Beasley they got Judge, McGruder, Samuels and a few others. Martin florida connects and Hills DC have turned that program around


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## coolpohle

HB said:


> Did anyone listen to Knight's comments on 'one and done' players and how it was damaging the game. Thought it was very insightful, didnt know all they needed was 6 hours and a D- average to remain eligible, they dont even need to go to class in the second semester.


Yeah, I did hear that HB. Very interesting. I love Knight because he's not afraid to call people out and say things like this. He is right - these kids need to be held to stricter standards.


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## Willo

Bob Knight saying anyone needs to be held to stricter standards is like the pot calling the kettle cookware.


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## Geaux Tigers

Just check out how many scholarships that Calipari rescinded when he became the coach at UK...I'll try and find the video link on ESPN. He doesn't give a tinkers damn about the players aside from those 2 or 3 special guys he gets each year. He is only a coach in the literal sense of the word as that is his position and not his profession.

With that said he does what he does very very well. He is a salesman for the program who installs some "offense" at each school he goes which is basically nothing more than a elementary motion using incredibly talented one and one players.

The guy is one of the worst things to happen to college sports since...the NCAA.


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## coolpohle

Willo said:


> Bob Knight saying anyone needs to be held to stricter standards is like the pot calling the kettle cookware.


Did Knight ever have a 38 win season taken away?


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## Willo

Has there been a record of Calipari preforming physical abuse on players?


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## Geaux Tigers

Willo said:


> Has there been a record of Calipari preforming physical abuse on players?


They don't stick around long enough for him to lay a hand on them...


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## coolpohle

Willo said:


> Has there been a record of Calipari preforming physical abuse on players?


Times have changed from 25 years ago. At least Knight isn't a cheater and cares about his players education.


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## Willo

1997 was 25 years ago? 2000, when he grabbed a student who said 'what's up, Knight?' was 25 years ago? Bobby Knight was a coach with a flare for temper and abuse, both physical and verbal. I understand coaches yell at their players to get fired up, but Knight yelled at everybody. The way people ignore his transgressions is both sad and unnerving.


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## Geaux Tigers

Bobby Knight is an *******. But he isn't a cheater. He coaches the game, graduates players, wins championships, and puts players in the NBA.

Most of his players hold fond memories of him and he continued to pull good recruits at TT after all his *******ry at IU.


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## coolpohle

Geaux Tigers said:


> Bobby Knight is an *******. But he isn't a cheater. He coaches the game, graduates players, wins championships, and puts players in the NBA.
> 
> Most of his players hold fond memories of him and he continued to pull good recruits at TT after all his *******ry at IU.


Bingo.


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## HB

The thing its not only the coaches at fault, the fans are really the ones messing up the integrity of the game. Go ask UK fans if they care if someone took John Wall or Demarcus Cousin's exams or if they are failing their classes? They dont care. Same goes for Memphis fans when Rose was there. Fans turn a blind eye to such when the coach brings in the A + recruits. I like Roy though, he's not going for the type of players Cal does. No way Cal is clean, thats one shady mofo.


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## Willo

My point was integrity does not equal not cheating. Integrity has to do will all aspects of life, both on and off the court. There are plenty of college coaches with lots of integrity, but Bob Knight is not among them.


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## Diable

Integrity has nothing to do with likeability. In fact you can't have absolute integrity if you spend time worrying about what other people think about you. Knight has never been accused of anything resembling the sort of wrongdoing that other coaches have. He's always graduated players and he's never even been investigated by the NCAA. 


The fact that he doesn't give a crap whether or not you like him has no bearing on his integrity. I don't care for him either, that's because he's an arrogant and overbearing tyrant. You can be both those things and have absolute integrity at the same time.


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## Willo

It's not a matter of him caring about if I like him.

People with integrity don't hit other people, unless they are boxers. Period.


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## apelman42

Willo said:


> It's not a matter of him caring about if I like him.
> 
> People with integrity don't hit other people, unless they are boxers. Period.


You make it sound like he blind-sided a player for the fun of it.

Bobby Knight used physical contact to teach his players lessons. It's called instilling discipline...


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## Willo

apelman42 said:


> You make it sound like he blind-sided a player for the fun of it.
> 
> Bobby Knight used physical contact to teach his players lessons. It's called instilling discipline...


Hitting is hitting. It doesn't belong in the grown up world. There's a reason he was fired from IU. He behaved like a child and had a temper that would often cause him to hit or throw fits. Knight is as much scum as Calipari. Different kind of scum? Sure. But scum all the same.


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## Geaux Tigers

HB said:


> The thing its not only the coaches at fault, the fans are really the ones messing up the integrity of the game. Go ask UK fans if they care if someone took John Wall or Demarcus Cousin's exams or if they are failing their classes? They dont care. Same goes for Memphis fans when Rose was there. Fans turn a blind eye to such when the coach brings in the A + recruits. I like Roy though, he's not going for the type of players Cal does. No way Cal is clean, thats one shady mofo.


No this has nothing to do with fans. Fans go to watch sports. You don't see people lining up to watch Demarcus Cousins take a math exam. Players are there to play. It's pretty obvious to me that a 19 year old does not want to go to class. However coaches and administrators have jobs that are supposed to help educate these young men.

The problem is the NCAA. They are the only ones that act like they care about educating young men when in fact they don't. It's time to recognize that amateur sports is no longer what it once was.


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## Geaux Tigers

Willo said:


> Hitting is hitting. It doesn't belong in the grown up world. There's a reason he was fired from IU. He behaved like a child and had a temper that would often cause him to hit or throw fits. Knight is as much scum as Calipari. Different kind of scum? Sure. But scum all the same.


No hitting is not hitting. And in the grownup world there are some decent reasons to lay a hand on some one else. There is a strict limit to the physicality coaches are allowed, but its often not what it seems once it gets reported to the media. I find that Bobby Knight is a victim of _his own_ reputation as a complete ******** and his terrible temper. Some of these people just felt slighted and saw a chance to make a stink. I seriously doubt he ever really abused a player.


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## coolpohle

Willo said:


> Hitting is hitting. It doesn't belong in the grown up world. There's a reason he was fired from IU. He behaved like a child and had a temper that would often cause him to hit or throw fits. Knight is as much scum as Calipari. Different kind of scum? Sure. But scum all the same.


Sounds like Texas Tech and ESPN would disagree with you.


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## apelman42

Willo said:


> Hitting is hitting. It doesn't belong in the grown up world. There's a reason he was fired from IU. He behaved like a child and had a temper that would often cause him to hit or throw fits. Knight is as much scum as Calipari. Different kind of scum? Sure. But scum all the same.


In some learning instances, words just aren't good enough, so I don't see a problem with Knight's actions.

Anyways, I see that we're just coming from two different lifestyles so it's pointless to try and argue this.


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## coolpohle

apelman42 said:


> In some learning instances, words just aren't good enough, so I don't see a problem with Knight's actions.
> 
> Anyways, I see that we're just coming from two different lifestyles so it's pointless to try and argue this.


Yeah, that's what it sounds like to me, too. You see Martin taking a bunch of criticism for hitting a player this weekend, and most times the player will say just what Merrieweather said in that it was a heat of the moment thing and being blown out of proportion.


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## Willo

June 7, 1999: Knight is investigated for possible battery after allegedly choking restaurant patron Christopher Foster, who said he overheard Knight making racist remarks. Monroe County prosecutors later announce that no charges will be filed against Knight or Foster.

March 17 - May 14, 2000: The university investigates Knight after former player Neil Reed claims the coach choked him during a 1997 practice. A videotape appearing to support Reed's claim appears in April. Other reports that have followed: Knight attacked a former Indiana sports information director, attacked former assistant coach Ron Felling shortly before his 1999 termination and once threw a threw a vase near an athletic department secretary.


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## coolpohle

Willo said:


> June 7, 1999: Knight is investigated for possible battery after allegedly choking restaurant patron Christopher Foster, who said he overheard Knight making racist remarks. Monroe County prosecutors later announce that no charges will be filed against Knight or Foster.
> 
> March 17 - May 14, 2000: The university investigates Knight after former player Neil Reed claims the coach choked him during a 1997 practice. A videotape appearing to support Reed's claim appears in April. Other reports that have followed: Knight attacked a former Indiana sports information director, attacked former assistant coach Ron Felling shortly before his 1999 termination and once threw a threw a vase near an athletic department secretary.


So he has anger management problems like half the men in this country...? I'll take the guy that doesn't cheat the system and cares about his players education. You can take the guy who doesn't care about his players and just uses them.


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## SheriffKilla

900 wins is 900 wins, what are you a woman, who cares if he choked a scrub?


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## Willo

My point was Knight lacks integrity. A lot of men have anger management problems, but you don't hear about many coaches smacking around, choking, etc. players and fans which Bobby Knight habitually did. I don't like getting ethics lessons from Bob Knight, and the fact that he is defended as having integrity is absurd.

Guess what: Players entering a Calipari system know what they are getting themselves into. They could easily go to another school with a coach that will take care of them. Does that make what he's doing right? No.

There are plenty of coaches... legends, that could speak out against Calipari... but to have Bob Knight do it when he has NEVER addressed his own past and demons is absurd. That's my point. I'm not saying Calipari is right, I'm merely suggesting that Bob Knight is a thug who has enough of a past to make it seem a bit hypocritical to talk about 'integrity.'


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## Dornado

apelman42 said:


> In some learning instances, words just aren't good enough, so I don't see a problem with Knight's actions.
> 
> Anyways, I see that we're just coming from two different lifestyles so it's pointless to try and argue this.


If you can't teach someone something about the game of basketball without hitting them you aren't much of a teacher. 

All of the rationalization that goes into supporting Bob Knight is absurd


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## Diable

Integrity doesn't have much to do with whether or not you occasionally engage in acts which are not socially acceptable. You guys need to get yourselves some reference material. The Devil can have integrity. There's no rule against it. Of course he lies and deceives people from some accounts so he probably doesn't have integrity. Bob Knight has been accused of doing things that make him seem childish and humorless. You can be childish and humorless without compromising your integrity. Not only can you hit people without compromising your integrity you could kill people without compromising your integrity. It's an entirely separate concept.


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## Willo

Uhm, how about a dictionary, which defines integrity as: 
1.	adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.
3. a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship's hull

Bob Knight is not any of these, certainly not a 'sound moral character'.


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## Diable

You seem not to grasp the concepts you just described or you don't understand anything. Are you claiming that morality is absolute and unachieveable so that noone is moral who ever does one single thing that you do not define as moral. You are simply wrong if that's what you think. There are no perfect people in this world. Morality does not require people to be perfect. In fact Knight really hasn't been proven to have done many of the things you believe impugn his integrity. A guy in the bar claims he said something and did something. Wow. That means a lot to me. It won't make me like Knight any less because I can't stand the *******. It doesn't make me question his integrity.


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## Geaux Tigers

It really depends on the act and the person that it happens to. Like the new Frank Martin incident. That was nothing more than a pop to get a player motivated and focused. Those things happen when you are a man and belong to a team. It's not about hitting in order to hurt or display anger. Sometimes there are complete justifiable reasons. 

I had this happen to me on my team. My coach grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me and yelled at me to "Guard Number 50" because no one on our team seemed to give a **** that this dude was dunking all over us. When I went into the game I realized how important it was for me to guard this guy. A lady in the stands from the other team called the principal to complain at how my coach treated me. He tried to apologize to me but told him it wasn't a big deal. He even called my house to talk to my mom and she didn't think it was a big deal either. He wasn't being violent he was just getting me emotionally invested in the task at hand.

Sounds like we have a few women posting here and we didn't know it!


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## Willo

Shaking someone and choking someone are two different issues.

If Bob Knight had addressed his problems head on, before he went after Calipari for integrity, then it would be one thing, as I said.

It's amazing the people who will stand up to defend Coach Knight.


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## Dornado

Geaux Tigers said:


> Sounds like we have a few women posting here and we didn't know it!


Right... because if you think Bob Knight is a douche for hitting college kids you are a woman... and I can only assume that being a woman is a bad thing from how your post is phrased... I'm learning a lot here...


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## apelman42

Willo said:


> Shaking someone and choking someone are two different issues.
> 
> If Bob Knight had addressed his problems head on, before he went after Calipari for integrity, then it would be one thing, as I said.
> 
> It's amazing the people who will stand up to defend Coach Knight.


I guess I tend to look at the more positive things that Knight has done for college basketball and his programs. Sure, he's got a few black clouds in his past, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.


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## apelman42

Dornado said:


> If you can't teach someone something about the game of basketball without hitting them you aren't much of a teacher.
> 
> All of the rationalization that goes into supporting Bob Knight is absurd


Absurd? Why because you don't agree with our point of view? Go watch his television show 'Knight School' and tell me he didn't have a positive influence on all of those kids lives.


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## apelman42

Willo said:


> Guess what: Players entering a Calipari system know what they are getting themselves into. They could easily go to another school with a coach that will take care of them. Does that make what he's doing right? No.


I can turn around and say the same thing inserting Knight's name into your paragraph. If you try to use the argument 'those players didnt know he would use force on them', please...he was a graduate of West Point.


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## Dornado

apelman42 said:


> Absurd? Why because u don't agree with our point of view? Go watch his television show 'knight school' and tell me he didn't have a positive influence on all of those kids lives.


First of all, that was a TV show.... I can't believe you'd cite that as evidence of Bobby Knight's 'positive influence'... you think they'd have Bob Knight star in a show and portray him any other way?


And I think the rationalizations are absurd because there's no excuse for hitting your players... what exactly did Knight do to benefit these kids that another coach could not have done, minus the violence? I guess the mindset is that it is 'tough' or 'cool' or 'manly' to be alright with Bob Knight's tactics, or to coach that way... to me it is the sign that the guy simply wasn't smart enough to do it any other way. Somehow John Wooden, Dean Smith and Coach K have managed to help mold young men without the douchebaggery.


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## apelman42

Dornado said:


> First of all, that was a TV show.... I can't believe you'd cite that as evidence of Bobby Knight's 'positive influence'... you think they'd have Bob Knight star in a show and portray him any other way?


Have you seen reality TV today? They're going to shoot whatever they can to draw the most ratings, no matter what happens. Believe me they didn't edit out anything, because if something did happen, they would've shown it.



Dornado said:


> And I think the rationalizations are absurd because there's no excuse for hitting your players... what exactly did Knight do to benefit these kids that another coach could not have done, minus the violence? I guess the mindset is that it is 'tough' or 'cool' or 'manly' to be alright with Bob Knight's tactics, or to coach that way... to me it is the sign that the guy simply wasn't smart enough to do it any other way. Somehow John Wooden, Dean Smith and Coach K have managed to help mold young men without the douchebaggery.


If Bob Knight didn't use the methods that he did, you wouldn't be using his name along with those other coaches names mentioned above. He had a different way of doing things, it worked. Was it the right way? That's debatable. Obviously, as I've mentioned already with Willo, we come from a different type of background. I personally don't see anything wrong with his actions, as long as it is to motivate or discipline a player, and it was. 

I don't believe Knight's intentions were to be 'cool' or 'manly', by the way.


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## Willo

Choking a player and a random person he didn't even know is acceptable adult behavior for you?


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## Dornado

apelman42 said:


> Have you seen reality TV today? They're going to shoot whatever they can to draw the most ratings, no matter what happens. Believe me they didn't edit out anything, because if something did happen, they would've shown it.
> 
> 
> 
> If Bob Knight didn't use the methods that he did, you wouldn't be using his name along with those other coaches names mentioned above. He had a different way of doing things, it worked. Was it the right way? That's debatable. Obviously, as I've mentioned already with Willo, we come from a different type of background. I personally don't see anything wrong with his actions, as long as it is to motivate or discipline a player, and it was.
> 
> I don't believe Knight's intentions were to be 'cool' or 'manly', by the way.


- On the show, I can almost guarantee you that Bob Knight had some editorial control over "Knight School"... this wasn't some news broadcast or documentary some third party was shooting.

- On the "we come from a different type of background"... honestly, we probably don't. We just have different beliefs, apparently. I definitely wasn't saying that Bob Knight was doing stuff to be 'cool' or 'manly', I was saying that was the driving force behind many of the people who defend what he did.


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## apelman42

Willo said:


> Choking a player and a random person he didn't even know is acceptable adult behavior for you?


Can I have full details of Knight choking a 'random person'?


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## TucsonClip

Geaux Tigers said:


> Just check out how many scholarships that Calipari rescinded when he became the coach at UK...I'll try and find the video link on ESPN. He doesn't give a tinkers damn about the players aside from those 2 or 3 special guys he gets each year. He is only a coach in the literal sense of the word as that is his position and not his profession.
> 
> With that said he does what he does very very well. He is a salesman for the program who installs some "offense" at each school he goes which is basically nothing more than a elementary motion using incredibly talented one and one players.
> 
> The guy is one of the worst things to happen to college sports since...the NCAA.


I stopped reading this thread after this post.

Yeah, what Cal did when arriving at Kentucky was shady, but dont think it doesnt happen all the time. Players are run out of programs after coaching changes, it just usually happens within a year after the coach is hired. Calipari made it well known that what his intentions where and who was or wasnt good enough from day 1. It happens all the time, Caliapri just accelerated the process because he knows he has to win right away at Kentucky... And he is.

You obviously have no concept of what the DDM offense encompasses. It is one of the most unique and new age offenses in basketball. There are no screens, the offense is initiated by penetration not passes, there is one post player, and the post man always runs to the weak side block. This offense is the exact opposite of a simple elementry motion offense. Oh yeah in case you didnt know, the Celtics and Nuggets run versions of the DDM offense.

If Calipari is the worst thing to happen to college sports, I would hate to hear your take on Tark, the SMU football program, the Toledo and Arizona State point shaving incidents, ect...


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## HB

Cal's an affable guy, if you met him in person there's no way anyone thinks he is shady. Its just the guys he brings in and takes on. There's no way he isnt doing something shady. Umass and Memphis prove that.


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## HB

Shawne Williams was one of Cal's players right?

And what about that guy Sean Miller (sp?)?

Just curious btw


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## HB

Cal and his boys are doing a telethon to raise money for the Haiti quake victims, its hard to hate on the guy when he's trying to help the needy.


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## TM

bush doesn't seem to have that problem


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## HB

I think most of the Bush bashers acknowledge he did a whole lot for Africa in terms of humanitarian projects


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## HB

*Calipari sleaziest coach in a sleazy game*



> Here's the other reason: Even if Kentucky wins, historical precedent says that, sooner or later, they won't win. For example, in 1996, a 35-2 University of Massachusetts team coached by John Calipari made it all the way to the Final Four. A year later, because of a tangled scandal involving Marcus Camby, jewelry, and hookers, the NCAA stripped UMass of its tournament victories, forced the school to pay back $151,617 in tournament revenues, and expunged the team's accomplishments from the official record book. Then, in 2008, a 38-2 Memphis team coached by John Calipari made it all the way to the championship game. A year later, because of a tangled scandal involving papier-mâché SAT scores, the NCAA stripped Memphis of its tournament victories, forced the school to pay back more than $500,000 in tournament revenues, and expunged the team's accomplishments from the official record book.
> 
> This is awe-inspiring. Two schools, at different times and in different places, both with their greatest seasons erased from the record books, and both of them coached by the same guy. None of college basketball's other historic buccaneers ever pulled this off. Not Jerry Tarkanian at Long Beach and UNLV. Not Norm Ellenberger, the New Mexico coach who came a cropper because he committed recruiting violations over a telephone that already had been tapped by the FBI. Not even the late Dana Kirk, one of Calipari's predecessors at Memphis, whose corruption was so blatant that he actually went to prison. None of these legends have accomplished what John Calipari's programs have.
> 
> So there you have it. The 2010 Kentucky Wildcats—perhaps soon d/b/a as Later Vacated.
> 
> Anyone who follows college basketball sooner or later develops a kind of ethical dementia. The sport is a perfect example of a functioning underground economy. Players have skills that CBS—to name only the most prominent parasite—values at something over $1 billion a year. Because this is not Soviet Russia, players find ways to get paid for these skills under the table, largely because a preposterous rulebook (and a feast of fat things called the NCAA) works diligently to prevent anyone from getting paid over the table. Since everybody involved in the sport has known this for decades, there's a lot of the old nudge-nudge, wink-wink going on.
> 
> Back when I covered the sport full time in the early 1980s, there was a kind of generally accepted low comedy to the corruption. My favorite story is the one about the New York City street agent who got an assistant coach from a prominent school to loan him a car in return for delivering a prospect, whereupon the street agent drove the car two blocks and into a building, whereupon he walked back to the coach, tossed him the keys, and asked him for another car. Whether you think this is a funny story pretty much defines how willing you are to overlook how the college hoops sausage gets made.


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## rebelsun

Playing the holier-than-thou game is a lost battle; morality is not objective. Knight's own particular perception of integrity affords physical assault.


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## kansasalumn

*UK violations*

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/kentucky_violated_ncaa_rules?utm_source=videoembed


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## BlueBaron

*Re: UK violations*

I have to admit I laughed out loud. :laugh:


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## Tom

*Re: UK violations*

oh there will be some


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## HB

*CDR, Lebron, Cal and WWW*



> Former Memphis Tigers star and current New Jersey Nets player Chris Douglas-Roberts might have accidentally let something slip on Twitter last week that he might shouldn’t have.
> 
> The Twitter ‘Trending Topic’ was #whenIfirstmet and CDR had tweeted his first time experiences meeting such celebs as Jay-Z, Beyonce, John Calipari, and finally NBA mega-star and Nike spokesman LeBron James.


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## Nimreitz

"He is the only coach in NCAA history to have two Final Four appearances removed from the record books."

Steve Fisher?


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## Seanzie

I'm really surprised by the lack of basic intelligence in this thread. It truly is disappointing to me.

Both coaches lack integrity. Bob Knight likes to think he has integrity because his players graduated at a higher rate, but he has no pedestal to stand on because he struck and choked players, coaches, and other staff members. Being a player at the end of the bench is irrelevant; I don't see how any of that is defensible. 

I bet if any of these Knight apologists happened to be a player choked by him, they'd be singing a much different tune.

I'm not going to defend Calipari's recruiting practices, because I do believe they are underhanded and shady. 

However, the point made about lower graduation rates is somewhat moot to me. Basketball is a different game nowadays. Players who have been poor their entire lives and have the talent to make millions quickly will always take the money. 

As for the guys who get kicked out of school because of disciplinary reasons: it happens to athletes in all fields, and non-athletes as well.

These coaches have jobs that are performance based. In order to keep your job, you need to win. So, of course schools that don't have the academic standards of Duke or Stanford are going to take chances on players with problematic histories. If those players fail out of school, the blame cannot be placed squarely on the head coach; when are the professors, families, and overall networks surrounding the players going to be held accountable? How about the players themselves?

No one wants to hold themselves accountable, so the coaches are the easy target. Sure, they have a big role in producing educated young men, but so do the others surrounding those players.


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## HB

*Is Zagsfan a prophet?*



> Kentucky coach John Calipari is intrigued with the Chicago Bulls’ coaching job and would be willing to listen to a pitch from management, NBA and NCAA sources told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday.
> 
> Sources say the combination of roster talent, tradition and market make Chicago one of the few NBA jobs that could pry Calipari out of Kentucky. The Bulls have been hesitant to pay the $4 million-$5 million annual packages it would take to lure high-profile coaches like Calipari.


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## TM

hahahahaha. and THIS is why Brandon Knight didn't sign a LOI


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## kansasalumn

how about this link? http://www2.kusports.com/news/2010/may/05/gary-bedores-ku-hoops-notebook/?mens_basketball

2.025 GPA for UK's fall semester. Pitiful.


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## GNG

Calipari does this every year. It gets out that some other team wants him, Calipari will feign interest, and Kentucky will give him a raise to stay with them. So instead of getting $4 million from Kentucky next year, the Wildcats will give him $4.5 million instead, and they'll do it because they have infinite cash flow to their basketball program.

Cal is the king of this.


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## HB

He will get the raise no doubt


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## bball2223

I read somewhere the UK AD was talking about restructuring Cal's contract so he is there forever? So basically a lifetime deal I suppose. Something tells me with the way he has violated NCAA rules and the fact he does not have an NCAA title makes me wonder if the AD is really thinking this through. I guess I should keep in mind this is Kentucky Basketball, but this dude should get a couple rings before they start talking lifetime deal.


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## cpawfan

bball2223 said:


> I read somewhere the UK AD was talking about restructuring Cal's contract so he is there forever? So basically a lifetime deal I suppose. Something tells me with the way he has violated NCAA rules and the fact he does not have an NCAA title makes me wonder if the AD is really thinking this through. I guess I should keep in mind this is Kentucky Basketball, but this dude should get a couple rings before they start talking lifetime deal.


To paraphrase Tark the Shark, when the NCAA finally has to do something about UK's cheating, Cleveland State will still be there to get the punishment


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## HB

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/sports/ncaabasketball/29recruit.html


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## HB

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/sports/ncaabasketball/08basketball.html?_r=2&ref=sports


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## Diable

This is a strange quote from Cal. Why does he mention Nike when talking about one of his recruits? I certainly would never want anyone to think that sleazy Nike street agents were recruiting for a sleazy Nike coach. I can't say I know much about the technical details of euro ball, but this doesn't make much sense to me. On the one hand this turkish team has a vested interest in having him declared ineligible, a transfer fee. Then they say he never signed a contract. Seems like he'd have to have signed something for them to have any such right.




> “There was no money, from what we’re seeing, what the kid is saying and the family, and what Nike is saying,” Calipari told The Sporting News. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there. You’ve got people talking about it that don’t know, just heard a rumor.”


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## E.H. Munro

Wait, so let me get this straight, Enes Kanter was ruthlessly exploited by his European club, which makes him ineligible to be exploited by UK and the NCAA?


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## zagsfan20

HB said:


> *Is Zagsfan a prophet?*


It was so close to becoming reality. After he gets a couple major violations he'll be gone like the wind for sure. I think NBA is the likely destination.


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## JonMatrix

If/when he gets caught again, won't he be facing a "show cause?" It's what Kelvin Sampson and Todd Bozeman received for getting caught cheating at a big time program. Kelvin Sampson for recruiting violations (too many conference calls) at Indiana and Oklahoma and Todd Bozeman at Cal in the 90's for paying a recruit's family to travel to their games and for alleged sexual harassment against a female student. Sampson and Bozeman went to the NBA, which is probably where Calipari will go.

Bozeman was the first coach with the show cause to be hired at another program, and it was at Morgan State, who he took to the NCAAs the past two seasons.


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