UTEP Hoops Kicks Off 3 For Betting

((HT: KVIA-TV/ESPN))

And, is it just us, or does Tim Floyd look old and tired now...???

The University of Texas-El Paso men's hoops program has kicked three players off their team for alleged betting- but not on their own games at present- as determined by an FBI investigation that is still ongoing...

Justin Crosgile, McKenzie Moore, and Jalen Ragland were kicked off the team and kicked out of school. Head coach Tim Floyd maintained in an afternoon press conference that the information on the three came from a tip to his office, but he declined to say who gave the tip...

Floyd tried to joke the situation off saying he "felt sorry for the kids on the team and the fans." He also asked the fans in El Paso to "let him know if they see any point guards in the grocery store."

"We are privy to the fact that they violated rules, but we do know that up to now they were not betting on UTEP games," Ricardo Adauto, the school's executive vice president of legal affairs, said in the afternoon news conference...

Jeff Goodman caught up with Jim Basquil to talk about just how bad this is...


Here's the full statement released by the school this afternoon:

“Last month, we received information that two men’s basketball players may have been betting on sporting events. Immediately Director of Athletics Bob Stull, men’s basketball coach Tim Floyd and Richard Adauto from the President’s Office reported these allegations to university police and the FBI. Law enforcement authorities conducted a thorough investigation and determined that three men’s basketball student-athletes – Justin Crosgile, McKenzie Moore and Jalen Ragland – participated in betting on one or more sporting events. To date, there was no indication that point shaving was involved. However, per NCAA rules, any type of sports gambling is prohibited and results in a one-year suspension and loss of a year of eligibility. All three players are upperclassmen, and therefore their college basketball careers are over. They are no longer enrolled at UTEP and are no longer a part of our basketball program.”

But the larger question will become, over time, just how much Stull and Floyd knew and when they knew it...

Reports: Andy Enfield and Tim Floyd Pulled Apart at Hoops Tourney

((ht: si.com))

So, we're guessing that new USC basketball coach Andy Enfield and former USC and current UTEP coach Tim Floyd won't be exchanging Christmas Cards this year.

According to Sports Illustrated basketball expert Seth Davis, the two got into a heated exchange Wednesday night a reception to kick off the Battle 4 Atlantis Basketball tournament.

Several of the assistants had to be pulled apart too.

The heat between the two dates back to last summer when Floyd accused Enfield of tampering with Isaac Hamilton, a recruit from the Southern California area who had signed a letter of intent. He later changed his mind, but Floyd refused to let him out. Hamilton ended up at UCLA.

It got worse when Enfield, in a story in Men's Journal was quoted saying Floyd "Shows up every day at work and realizes he's in El Paso, Texas and he's pissed off he didn't get the USC job 2 months ago"

Ooooh....burn....

Read the entire Seth Davis story with play-by-play as the incident unfolded RIGHT HERE

It's not often you hear publicly about coaches who appear to not like each other. And yes, it happens more than you think. But most all of them are very careful not to let that get out.

Like any other business, it's a very closed fraternity where everyone knows or knows of everyone else. And it's also a business where you may have to work with or work for that person somewhere down the line.