This. Times 100.
I think most of the money will be found going between sneaker companies and AAU coaches or other runners. Supposed to steer a company to specific agents or advisors, post college. I doubt many instances will directly involve assistant or head coaches directly. Also doubt Nike or Adidas had the temerity to pay athletes directly.
Will there be a lot of smoke around most top programs? I think so. It would surprise me if many current and past players weren’t implicated. Similar to Derrick Rose, Chris Webber, Corey Maggette, the Rush brothers etc.
I could be wrong (it’s just speculation on my part) but I think that’s what theyve got. If they had evidence that K, Roy, Self, etc we’re directly linked to paying players, it would’ve been blasted on every global media outlet the next day. The fact they’ve been looking at the evidence for at least six months and have just leaked hints tells me they’ve got nothing to directly implicate anyone big.
As much as it pains me, I must say I agree totally with Michael Strahan.
It smells like they put that threat out to try and generate self-incriminating calls but coaches closed ranks. That's my speculation. The "thousands of hours of calls" comments make it sound like they've got every coach in the country on tape. The reality is that's probably hours and hours of calls from the guys who were already indicted plus calls obtained via Andy Miller's agency.
Speaking of Miller, he'll likely be the person (not already indicted) who'll face some form of major penalties.
On Krysadlasldha;gski, RoyBoy and others, the UNCAA is probably waiting to see what evidence actually exists. Likely, if they want (which they don't), there will probably be enough to actually ding them for some secondary violations and such. But, as I've been saying for years, the UNCAA doesn't really want to have to punish any of them.
My hope is that the FBI is just playing coy, biding their time, building their case and actually does effect tremendous change in all amateur sports. That would make sense considering that whole supposed 95% or w/e conviction rate. Although I imagine that figures a bit inflated.