College football bagman

[Bruce Wayne]

Brian Johnson, just ask around enough and you can learn for example how a certain Tech QB from a previous era or many basketball players would have the use of very fancy vehicles.

So then there is our legit hero Calvin Johnson. Now maybe we know why he was ranked relatively low and not a consensus 5 star even (ha!). The story is that when he made a recruiting visit to UGA he was taken out to something like a frat party (bar?, don't recall the details). When he got home and Momma asked him about the trip and he told her how her 17 year old son was taken to a frat party she said wtte of "well you are not going to that school then." Calvin's mom rose to being a school principal, his father stayed on working for the railroad (a relative of mine knew him as a coworker) and retired from that career well after Calvin having already made millions as a pro. That family structure and situation economically was such that their gifted athlete son had no pressing incentives or concerns to take bribes or get involved in such. He drove a modest car, etc.

But how many gifted 4 or 5 star athletes from this region, immune to or insulated from being bribed, and generally interested in Tech are there out there on a yearly basis? Less than 50? Less than 20? Greater than 0?

Calvin Johnson is the exception and there will be always be only a few like him. We need to appreciate those we do get.

 

[Techster]

Nice going. The NCAA just sent a fully-loaded swat team down I-75 and booked a full compliment of inquisitors on the next flight to Burlington, Vermont.

We lost an ACC title over $300 worth of athletic gear...lord knows what the NCAA is going to do over a van full of ice cream! Death penalty here we come...

 

[00Burdell]

I wonder how long it took our basketball AD from Ohio to get up to speed with how football recruiting in the South works. My guess is not long since he approved the extra staff CPJ requested pretty dang fast.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

It'll never happen. 1) the NCAA doesn't want it stopped, too much money coming back to them personally, indirectly, but it comes back to them. 2.) Even if they wanted to stop it, they don't have the resources or expertise to set up the FBI style sting operations necessary to nab 'em.

It would take a bagman whistle blower to come out for some reason and even then, it's his word against their's because there's no paper trail.

Let's assume only 35% of FBS programs do this--about 44 programs. It is probably more, but that's for argument's sake. Half a dozen top recruits at each school are involved = 264. Every year you'd need 264 investigations going on. EVERY YEAR. And as the article states, the effort is not to hide the benefits, it's to hide the proof of the source of the benefits--and most participants are adept at the concealment. When Dontae Aycock was told "don't get on that plane" was he really asking for $1,000 not to make that visit?

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

I wonder how long it took our basketball AD from Ohio to get up to speed with how football recruiting in the South works. My guess is not long since he approved the extra staff CPJ requested pretty dang fast.

Probably took Bobinski longer to reach that conclusion than it took DRad to figure out that Clemson had better bagmen than we have.

 

[Animal02]

We lost an ACC title over $300 worth of athletic gear...lord knows what the NCAA is going to do over a van full of ice cream! Death penalty here we come...

Yet the NCAA looks the other way when it comes to the SEC. The NCAA needs to be dissolved.

 

[Techster]

Yet the NCAA looks the other way when it comes to the SEC. The NCAA needs to be dissolved.

I think it's a widely held view that the NCAA is a farce.

 

[SidewalkJacket]

I thought the article was really interesting. I also think it was like any other sensational piece of writing. The more nefarious, the better. So, while I totally believe that everything mentioned in the article truly happens, I don't know just how organized and institutionalized it all is. Some of the article has that "secret society running the whole world" feel to it that people love from movies and TV.

From my experience with college coaches as personal friends, there's a lot of hard work and uncertainty in every recruiting cycle. And though I'm not naïve enough to think this stuff has never happened at GT, I think we as Tech fans can sleep pretty soundly at night, knowing we aren't caught up in this charade. Some of that is due to GT's nature as an academic institution, and some of it is due to the type of H.S. kids we are in the game for.

Overall, it just makes me more disillusioned than I already am about "college" athletics. I've recently converted to the "minor league for NFL and NBA" mindset, and DIII-model for college sports (no scholly, just make the team and get through school like everybody else). Might not be as fun to watch at first, but eventually it would be all we knew.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I've recently converted to the "minor league for NFL and NBA" mindset, and DIII-model for college sports (no scholly, just make the team and get through school like everybody else). Might not be as fun to watch at first, but eventually it would be all we knew.

This is not a workable solution because alumni and fans are still going to be there rooting for their schools team. It has nothing to do with the money the sport generates in t.v. and such which is then used in part to pay for scholarships.

Pay attention to where the problem lies: 1) fans of a team willing to pursue access and then try and influence a teenager with bribes and 2) kids or their family members willing to accept bribes.

The only way to improve the situation is to first recognize it will never be eliminated completely (don't ruin the better seeking the perfect) and then to find specific and workable ways to reduce incentives for fans pursuing and bribing as well as kids/families accepting bribes.

 

[Rodney Kent]

I doubt thatt Georgia Tech has a bagman. If there is any cheating at GT, it would be from individuals who would not let the coaches know about it, and would try to insure that the athlete did not tell anyone. I hope anyone giving money to the athletes under the table will get caught and put under the jail. As far as cheating goes, Bobby Dodd would turn in other schools when he received verified word of their cheating. I am sure he did not cheaT or he would not turn in other schools. Auburn was still mad at Bobby Dodd when he died because Dodd turned in Auburn for cheating violations. He made the statement that if any school did not want him to turn any school in for cheating, then they had better make sure he did not know it.

Those who make excuses for cheating are nothing but cheaters themselves. I guess it is okay to cheat as long someone is poor? No, it is not okay to cheat regardless of the athlete being poor. There are circumstances when anyone might need help for a given situation. This should have nothing to do with recruiting. However, if a circumstance arises while a student athlete is at a school (mother or father gets ill, a dire situation in the family, ect,. then the situation should be reported to the school administrators. The administrators should then report it to the ACC, the ACC should then report it to the NCAA and get permisson to rectify the situation within reason. This could be set up to be handled very swiftly between the school, ACC, and NCAA.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Schools don't "have a bagman". There are networks of "bagmen" created out of certain kinds of devoted fans who are willing to actually do "it." It being pursue high school athletes and their families to find ways to bribe them to influence their college decision. If a school has a lot of those kind of fans whose personal views and time/money/interest and motivations are such then that person does this and that school will have a lot of "bagmen" relatively invisibly "assisting" the school's recruiting efforts. That is also why they are called "shadow" boosters as in they read sites like this one and go to "lunch bunches" to find out what recruits are being targeted by their school then they go out and do their own "shadow" "recruiting" of that kid.

And this isn't some sort of conspiracy theory. It is simply how any unseemly or illegal activity is engaged in and organized. It is how gangs work, how the mafia

 

[vamosjackets]

Makes me want to quit watching sports. And, not let my kids play them.

 

[Body Massage Machine]

I'm not naive to think GT hasn't done this. When SEC fans have this kind of attitude, not much you can do. See below.

http://www.secrant.com/rant/p/49281351/Would-you-be-the-bag-man-for-your-school-of-choice.aspx

 

[vamosjackets]

When I played, it sure didn't seem like any of our guys were getting anything. Nobody drove a nice car (except a couple guys whose families were well off), even our "stars". I really think CCG was an extremely moral man and would've not wanted to win that way. My impression of CPJ (though never played for him) is that he's got those same ideals. I know the HC isn't the one doing the stuff anyway, but I would still think the HC would be at least influential in the culture of it all.

 

[turfjacket]

Even though this stuff has been going on forever it's still a fascinating to me to read these "behind the scenes" stories about the dirty world of recruiting.

My childhood best friend was recruited heavily by numerous SEC schools, which included in home visits (5 houses down the street from my house) from Pat Dye, Johnny Majors, Jackie Sherrill etc... I do not recall him ever saying that he or his family was paid or enticed illegally to commit to any school. I did however witness with my own eyes a booster hand him $400 in a hotel room after a big game in which he scored a TD against the nation's #1 defense. I remember being shocked while watching it take place and then indulging in all the free food and beer that the booster made available to any players that stopped by that night.

 

[Frenchise]

Reading this article, and the way the bagman said it's easy to get them a car, just say their uncle got it and paid cash.

Then i googled Kenneth Page, this guy:

How did Clemson PR justify it?

"It caused an Internet furor, although it turned out it was just Page having fun while riding along with an uncle who re-stocked ATM machines in California."

http://www.orangeandwhite.com/blogs/greg-wallace/2009/nov/17/kenneth_page/

 

[LongforDodd]

Tom Clancy made a boatload of money writing in this style.

 

[mmbt0ne]

Any stories that GT has done this?

In "The Jump," written by Ian O'Connor, Telfair says he received a $250,000 offer while attending a college basketball game, and a person close to Telfair says the man making the offer claimed to represent the interests of Georgia Tech. Telfair identifies the man only as middle-aged and white and does not identify the school, only referring to it as "a major school in the East." Telfair's brother and best friend both say Telfair attended a Tech game.

http://www.basketballforum.com/port...430-so-its-now-telfairs-turn-controversy.html

 

[Eric]

That 2007 class didn't come together by accident

 

[buzzinanut69]

To be completely honest if I had the money, I would be willing to contribute to a bagman. I would probably feel too creepy to actually interact with recruits directly, but I would definitely "donate" if I knew it meant we would get classes like 07.