Drake Fined For Remarks On Kevin Durant, Tim and Sid Disagree

((HT: Sportsnet))

Drake is on a bit of a roll as an ambassador for the Toronto Raptors...

And he's trying to get anyone of the big names in the NBA to come to the T-Dot for their next contract...

At a concert he wanted to bring Kevin Durant to the Raptors and, upon hearing this, the NBA fined the team $25,000.

Tim and Sid disagreed with the assessment

OSG High: State Title Coach Resigns Over Recruiting/Grades Flap

((HT: AJC/Holcomb))

This one has a lot of moving parts...

First moving part: Steve DeVoursney was the head football coach for the Griffin High (GA) Bears and won the 2013 Class 4A title
Evidence below...
((HT: GPB Sports/GHSA))


But, over the last three years the rivalry between the city school and the county school, Spalding, seems to have escalated to a different level entirely. Under allegations of illegal recruiting of student-athletes and improper academic assistance, DeVoursney and his wife- a science teacher at the school- submitted their resignations.

They were accepted by the Board of Education Thursday evening.
All the shenanigans then kicked into a high gear last fall...

From Holcomb:

The events that prompted the investigation began in September, 2013, when Griffin principal Keith Simmons questioned the legality of the transfer of a student-athlete from his school to county rival Spalding High. The schools are located five miles apart.

Simmons wrote a letter to the GHSA that asserted that the transfer student from Griffin was not living legally in the Spalding district, according to the report. Simmons speculated in the letter that Spalding football coach Nick Davis illegally recruited the student-athlete.

The Spalding principal, in turn, asked for an investigation on a three-year student at Griffin who was ineligible, but went through what was termed a "course recovery" program and became eligible. The Spalding High principal questioned the idea of 18 hours being picked up rather quickly.

And to top it all off, the student whose eligibility was restored was questioned in the investigation and fingered the coach's wife for giving him answers to tests.

Got all this...???
There's a test later on...

No immediate word on whether DeVoursney will pursue any job openings in the central part of the state- where he grew up, won a title as a player, and won a title as a coach. There are still a handful of openings still in the state for the upcoming 2014 season. And the fallout of this is huge...

It also makes the Spalding-Griffin rivalry really nasty from this moment on...

Players Committing To James Franklin And Not Vanderbilt

It was predictable that when James Franklin announced he was leaving Vanderbilt to become the new head coach at Penn State that the Commodore recruiting class fall apart.

It has.

A trio of Vanderbilt commitments have changed their minds and are following Franklin to Penn State. 

That trio is offensive lineman Brendan Brosnan from Park Ridge, Illinois, defensive end Lloyd Tubman from Louisville, Kentucky and another offensive lineman Chance Sorrell from Middletown, Ohio.

Those recruiting services that rank such things as top classes have dropped Vanderbilt considerably.

24/7 Sports.com is one such service that has Vanderbilt ranked 49^th nationally and 14^th, dead last in the SEC. 

Rivals.com has dropped Vanderbilt to 64 from the mid-20’s before Franklin’s departure.

Thursday Franklin was a guest on the Dan Patrick radio show and he was asked about the etiquette of taking recruits from one school to the other.

Franklin is dead on.  The relationship with the coaching staff will trump the academic reputation of any institution of higher education that competes in major college football.

Vanderbilt is a great school, its academic standing is exceptional but the University competes at the highest level in college football and in the football rabid SEC.

Franklin not only sold the school but those players felt a bond with their future head coach and Vanderbilt’s coaching staff before taking a class on campus. 

You can’t blame those commitments for following Franklin.

Vanderbilt will find a new head coach who will try to stop the bleeding with their recruiting class of 2014.

They better make a decision fast.

OSG High: Raekwon Chooses Ohio State

((HT: SouthernPigskin.com))

The HQ has seen Liberty County (GA) High School LB Raekwon McMillan up close- and he is a beast...

Today, he decided on his next place to attend, enroll early, and become one in the pile of all the other 5-star recruits heading to the next level...

So...
From Hinesville...


McMillan will be an interesting add for tOSU...

The HQ will be even more interested in how he would integrate

OSG High: How Not To Recruit... Allegedly...

((HT: AJC.com/Niesse))

Grady (Atlanta, GA) High School has had its ups and downs when it comes to the football program...

There have been playoff berths, but there have also been growing pains in between... as a matter of fact, Erk Russell coached the Grey Knights to their only state title in 1953...

Yes, THAT Erk Russell...
Anyway, the HQ digresses...

The 2013 season finished up with an 8-3 record under Ronnie Millen- who had been the coach since 2001...

Here's Grady's final game of the 2012 season- a playoff loss to Monroe Area...
((HT: NFHS Network))


But the City of Atlanta is now investigating the allegation (made anonymously, of course) that as many as 20 players falsified their addresses to play for Millen...

Millen has been transferred out of the school because of the investigation...

“We depend on the integrity of parents who have an ethical obligation to the district to provide accurate addresses to the district,” School Superintendent Erroll Davis said as he announced the investigation. “However, our commitment to ethics is higher than any individual program.”

The biggest issue of the whole investigation is: Why and how did the parents/guardians/coaches/administrators/anyone involved in the process (allegedly) think that filing duplicate addresses wouldn't get past the city gatekeepers and send up red flags in their investigation in the first place...???

Students found to have violated the geography rules could be transferred back to their native school districts and any athlete with a scholarship to a college could have that in jeopardy as well...

The Georgia High School Association has been notified of the City investigation and may hand down separate penalties of their own once the initial investigation is complete...

OSG sources familiar with the situation at Grady say this has been a fairly common occurrence in the past with athletes using either the addresses of relatives or outright fake addresses to take advantage of what has been characterized as the best school in the Atlanta Public School system- even when it was just a base for the magnet program...

Oke State Addresses Upcoming SI Article

((HT: Newsok.com))

Or, at least, they kinda did...

Head football coach Mike Gundy didn't say anything at his Monday press conference... he just read...
((HT: Oklahoma State Athletics))


But AD Mike Holder did...

The Sports Illustrated article alleges five fronts:

There was an alleged pay-for-play set up by an ex-coach as well as sham jobs...
Widespread academic misconduct...
Selective enforcement of the university drug policy
That the Orange Pride, the hostess staff engaged in sexual activity with recruits
Athletes who were of no use to the program any more were "cast aside..."

The next few days in Stillwater will be interesting...

Interpret as You Will: Alabama Recruit Waving Wads of Cash

Dee Liner on Left

((ht: sportingnews.com))

We'd now like to open the floor to questions from the audience. Please feel free to discuss after reading the story and seeing the photo.

Take a look at the Instagram photo on your right. In it, you'll see Alabama freshman recruit Dee Liner flashing rather large piles of cash along with his friends. The attached hashtag--#StruggleOverWit. It was uncovered by a website called "College Spun.com".

It's not clear where or how young Mr. Liner came upon this sudden windfall, but the youngster from Muscle Shoals has been rather popular, or at least well known in the state of Alabama.

He originally committed to Auburn back in January, but then de-committed after the departure of former coach Gene Chizik.

Just a few weeks later, he ended up signing with Alabama or the team known as Auburn's chief rival.

We are NOT saying the Liner has done anything wrong. Other than posting a really dumb picture on Instagram that's already attracting some unwanted attention. What we are saying is: Let's hope this is something perfectly innocent and Liner unknowingly posted a photo that is giving people a chance to make the wrong assumption.

But considering the cynical nature of College Football recruiting, particularly in the SEC, it's not hard to assume the first impression is right.

SEC Media Days Day #1: Will Muschamp Fires Back

For those of you unaware, the football season is just about upon us. And one of the events that makes college football fans...and in particular SEC Football fans heart go aflutter--Media Days.

The SEC's official/unofficial 2013 Season Kickoff began in Hoover, Alabama Wednesday afternoon. The event, which now draws over 1,000 accredited media types and hundreds of fans is a bit of a circus, 16 coaches with 2 players each taking turns shuffling between multiple media "Group" rooms and individual network interviews.

Batting leadoff today--Florida coach Will Muschamp, who while optimistic about his team, was a little less than thrilled at some shots taken by "Another Program" not in the conference.

That program, Ohio St., led by former Gator coach Urban Meyer. The Buckeyes are alleged to have alerted the NCAA twice to alleged recruiting violations---neither of which were proven and at least one of which may have cost Florida a recruit. Meyer claims it was his schools compliance department that turned the Gators in. And he knew nothing about it.

Read more about those allegations RIGHT HERE

Muschamp took a minute during an early side session and fired back, saying in part; "We appreciate our friends from Ohio educating us on NCAA rules. They certainly know a thing or two about them"

Oooohhh....burn.

And a little later in the main session with writers, he took a very indirect shot at Meyer and the heat Meyer has been getting regarding discipline when he was in Gainesville.

Q- "How much is a head coach responsible for the off-the field behavior of its players? Can a head coach know everything that's going on and control that?

A--"Well, you're 100% responsible. When you sign an athlete to come to the University of Florida, I look at his parents, guardians, whoever is important to him in his life, tell them it's my job to be an extension of what's already happened at home. But you're a hundred percent responsible for the young man. Everything that happens."

"I can't possibly know everything that happens every single night with our football team. You also can't stick your head in the sand and pretend everything is okay either. You need to be very aware of the kind of guys your guys are hanging out with....But you are 100% responsible for every student-athlete on your football team"

OSG High: USC Offers Kid From 8th Grade

((HT: WeAreSC.com/Angulo))

When LSU offered Dylan Moses from Baton Rouge-University Lab, everyone was up in arms over offering an 8th grader.

Not that, in the grand scheme of things, that offers mean anything until this moment...


Now, USC has offered Class of 2017 receiver Nathan Tilford from Upland, California who got an offer at a Trojans' skills camp.

Commence over-hype now...

Tilford is projected as one of the top incoming high school freshmen in Southern California... for whatever that's worth...

USC has gotten into the underclassmen business going seven times into the 2015 class and once into the 2016 class...

Oregon FB Agrees On Violations... Mostly...

((HT: KVAL-TV))

Now that Chip Kelly has left the University of Oregon for the Philadelphia Eagles, it's time for the NCAA to get all the violations underway... most of the violations the school and the governing body agree on...

Some they don't... at least in the severity of them...

The Oregonian and KATU-TV in Portland filed an open records request and the paperwork focuses mainly on the Willie Lyles/Lache Seastrunk episode involving the written/not-written encouragement of having Seastrunk attend Oregon and Lyles reimbursement for the direction

The violations are considered "major" and involve the idea of "failure to monitor" by Chip Kelly. But, somewhat in conflict, there are no findings of a lack of institutional control or unethical conduct.

Oregon decided to give an incredibly generic statement on the release of the documents:

"The review is ongoing until the NCAA Committee on Infractions issues its final report. The integrity of the process and our continued full cooperation with the NCAA prohibits us from publicly discussing the specifics of this matter."

Here's the report from out west...


Expect Oregon to appeal the findings to the Committee on Infractions in the spring and the school has already performed two self-punishments: a scholarship reduction for each of the next three years and a two-year probation.

Randy Edsall Relives Bizarre S. Florida Recruiting Trip

((HT: CSNWashington))

The HQ really can't do this justice... at all...

Maryland head coach Randy Edsall and an assistant went into the muck trying to get some recruiting done in the Pahokee-Belle Glade area of South Florida and...

Well, we really should just let him tell you in this interview with Chick Hernandez...


See what recruiting has become these days...???

It ain't all sunshine and rainbows now, is it...???

Opinion: The Weird Fascination With Signing Day

It's a question that I keep asking myself every year around this time: Why are so many grown men utterly fascinated with the college choice of 17 or 18 year old high school kids?

And despite living and growing up in the south along with a very long career working in TV Sports, I've still not been able to understand it.

My Twitter feed yesterday was blown up with people, no, grown men boasting "National Signing Day should be a holiday in the south".

Really?

Sure, I'm a bit cynical and while I love all things Sports, I don't LIVE for all things Sports. But there are an awful lot of people down here in SEC territory who do LIVE for this.

From the breathless local TV coverage of kids making the dramatic, yet rarely surprising "announcement" of where they are going to play...(even if they say the school name wrong)

t

To the non-stop reports of "Who's flipping?" "Who won?" and the growth of sites like Rivals.com, scout.com and the 24-7 sites, it's an endless flood of who's the best high school prospects.

And it creates an artificial, bizarre bubble around the kids. Alumni become hyper-critical if the kid doesn't come to their school. Fans start making accusations. Poor Ole Miss. They get Robert Nkemdiche and some other "High" rated recruits and "Boom" there are allegations they are cheating.

Without getting too much on the soapbox, we just keep asking ourselves, "Why"? Does rating a 17-year old as 1,2, 3, 4 or 5-Star recruits measure how successful they'll be in college? No. Is it a best guess? Yes.

I've said it before and will say it again, you cannot predict with 100% accuracy how any teenager will react in his first year in college. You can't.

There are so many more temptations, so many more things they can't possibly have experienced that they'll be exposed to. Sure, lots of kids don't have a problem with it, adjust, become immediately successful and never look back.

But an equally large percentage don't.

It's an in-exact science and the even the "Recruit-niks" will tell you, they rarely get things dead perfect. But yet it's treated as such.

I think what is hard to understand is the pressure it puts the kids under. It's not uncommon any more for a kid to commit somewhere as a junior, but never go to the same school he says he loved just the year before. Nkemdiche did it. He "Committed" to Clemson, flirted with Georgia, took a visit to LSU and flirted again with Alabama before "committing" to Ole Miss.

The burden is wrong to put on a kid and I challenge ANY of you to argue that this system is "Fair and/or Equitable" to anyone.

For that matter, if you believe this "Should" be a holiday, I'd love to hear your argument for it. Why should this be "Celebrated" like it is? Why should an employer be obligated to give you a day off for work for something like this?

This kind of applies...kind of:

What Not To Have In A Photo... Right, Davin Bellamy...???

((HT: Big Lead))

Davin Bellamy is looking at Florida and Georgia as his top two schools before National Signing Day... where it's easy as A,B,C.


A-Always
B-Be
C-Closing

And, probably, after this photo came out Oregon wants nothing to do with Davin Bellamy

Not the way any school wants to see you... with a smoking aid in the bottom of the screen...
Oregon...??? Next move is yours...

Vandy's James Franklin Calls Nick Saban "Nicky Satan"

((ht: wmaz.com

Whoa!

What is this? The head coach at Vanderbilt talking smack about perennial national championship coach Nick Saban?

Yup, that's exactly what he appears to have done.

James Franklin was speaking to Central High School in Macon, Georgia when called Alabama's head coach, Nicky Satan.

Really?

It was spoken within the context of outworking "The Man" himself, but hmmmm...wonder how that will go over in Tuscaloosa?

Granted, we don't think Saban really will care one way or the other. But you can be darn skippy that the 'Bama fanbase is going to bring it up. As will the Alabama media who pretty much report on even the smallest of slights.

Vandy's been making some noise in the SEC, with back to back bowl seasons in, well, the first time ever. And it's probably not such a bad thing Vandy and Alabama don't play this upcoming season either.

Props to Franklin for being aggressive and aiming high. We don't know if the Nicky Satan thing was such a good idea publicly, but nice set of cojones there James.

Here's your video:

UCLA pulls scholarship offer and doesn't tell recruit

((ht: ajc.com))

Mr. Sensitivity himself

Nice work Jim Mora Jr.

Former UCLA QB recruit Eddie Printz of Lassiter H.S near Atlanta, no longer will be attending UCLA next year because his scholarship offer was "Withdrawn".

But wait, Printz had no idea it was coming, until his father apparently saw a tweet about the Bruins recruiting another QB. Ed Printz finally got the truth after, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he tracked down the coach responsible for recruiting in the area.

Ed Printz told the paper his son planned on taking classes early so he could early enroll at UCLA and also that his boy turned down at least 20-25 offers because he wanted to play in L.A.

Now, the younger Printz will not be left off the college football landscape, he'll get a chance to play--somewhere. But this all smells kind of bad.

Read the entire story from AJC.com RIGHT HERE

Well. Okay. Technically, Mora didn't "Break" any rules here. And he didn't do anything illegal. But he did something in REALLY bad taste.

Sure, we get that he's "Learning" the college game, but you don't leave a kid hanging like that. Come on dude. Imagine if he were your son.

Anyone who follows the recruiting game knows how cutthroat it is and schools lie and back off promises all the time. We're pretty sure all the players ask is you tell them if you don't want them.

Mora didn't.

This won't change much in California and it won't have an impact on Mora's status as a rookie head coach in the Pac-12. But it WILL have an impact on his recruiting on the other side of the country. Kids WILL take notice of this and think twice before committing to play for him.

Maybe in the big picture it won't matter, but just looking at it on the surface, it just plain smells:

OSG High: Championship Hoops Coach Ousted For Undue Influence

There is no denying the coaching ability of David Boyd...

Boyd has been a head coach of six state championship teams in Georgia and is the only coach in Georgia to lead four different schools to the title in Campbell in 1982, Tucker in 1996, Berkmar in back-to-back years (2000, 2001) and Milton out of Alpharetta in 2010 and 2012. He has 604 career victories in 32-plus years as a coach.

But... and this is the usual "but" these days with successful programs...

There was always the backdoor chatter about how Boyd attracted his talent to his school. Now, the principal of his most recent employ, Clifford Jones, has self-reported "undue influence" violations involving Boyd to the Georgia High School Association and Boyd has been removed as head boy's basketball coach...

Todd Holcomb, writing the story for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, got a hold of an e-mail Jones sent to the Milton community yesterday that said in part:

"As we move forward there will be a thorough investigation and the development of a comprehensive strategy to move our program to new heights of integrity and excellence. In the days ahead, I ask that we support our student athletes, their families, and the program."

Boyd's 2012 squad had transfers as well...

DaQuain Watts from North Springs (the city of Roswell), Shawn O’Connell from Roswell and Isaiah Manderson of Westside-Augusta. Johnnie Vassar reportedly moved from Indiana and Zach Hodskins from Tennessee.

And it's that kind of talent attraction that is the elephant in the room...
Always...

No word on who alerted Jones on Boyd's alleged influence... according to Holcomb:

"Whenever an allegation is made, the school has a responsibility to turn it over to human resources, and it was during that conversation with HR that Boyd decided to resign," Evans said.

Here's an interview FOSG Gil Tyree did with Boyd after winning his last title back in March...
((HT: gpb.org))
NOON UPDATE: Holcomb caught up with GHSA Executive Director Dr. Ralph Swearngin to get his take on the matter: “I have no idea who turned in Milton [to the school system]. It would not surprise me if it was a parent or group of parents concerned about their kid’s spot being taken because of kids coming in. We’re getting more and more complaints from parents. It used to be the coach down the road. Now it appears parents are more involved, either for personal gain or for more ethical conduct.’’

Nerlens Noel Getting More Looks From NCAA

((HT: WLEX-TV))

Two NCAA enforcement officials visited Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel's New Hampshire prep school to ask about his recruitment process.

Pete Thamel over at SI is revealing that the NCAA is investigating the how and the who around Noel and how his unofficial visits were paid for. Noel is regarded as the number one recruit in the country and, probably, the top pick in next year's NBA draft.

FOSG MJ Perino has the True Blue details...

Noel is enrolled as a freshman and the University anticipates that all freshmen will be eligible when the season starts...

Flip Flopping Auburn Recruit to be visited by the NCAA (UPDATE: Or Maybe Someone Else...???)

((ajc.com))

Uh oh.

And we'll start this story by telling Brother Jon's better half to chill, nobody is accusing anyone of anything....yet.

Auburn recruit Reuben Foster was apparently paid a visit on Monday by some investigators from the NCAA.

The reason: They want to make sure no monkey business happened after Foster flipped on his commitment to Alabama after agreeing to go to Tuscaloosa a year ago.

In mid April, Foster, a 5-star (whatever that means) linebacker enrolled at Auburn High School in Alabama after attending Troup County H.S his first three years. In July, he announced he would play college football for the Tigers. And yeah, as you can imagine, the 'Bama faithful aren't real happy about this.

Read the whole story from AJC.com RIGHT HERE

The whole switch here may be perfectly innocent, it all happened around the time Foster's cousin, LaDarius Phillips was shot and killed at a party on the Auburn campus. Also, Foster has a child, and by staying in or near Opelika, he'll be closer to his kid.

But...we will also add, this smells fishy. Out of all the places he could have transferred to, he picked Auburn H.S? And then he changes his commitment to Auburn U? Yeah, we get why the Alabama folks are not happy. On the surface it looks like he was ushered to the local H.S so he could go to the local school.

We might also add this isn't Auburn's only recruiting issue this year. The NCAA is also looking into the transcript of Memphis area recruit Jovon Robinson.

You can read his story RIGHT HERE

Sure, the Tigers reputation does not help them in either of these situations and honestly, we would not be shocked if something less than legit is going on. But nobody has proven it or made the accusation...yet.

The issue to us is more the whole High School commitment issue. It's patently absurd to ask a 16-year old kid to "Commit" to a college and stick to it for a couple of years. There is NO reason for anyone less than a rising Senior in High School to be recruited or to make that kind of decision. And it doesn't stop rival coaches from recruiting the kid. In fact it makes it worse. Add in a conspiracy driven alumni base who are convinced the amount of stars in front of a kid's name will grant their school greater glory grows by the season, and you have a recipe for disaster.

We'll spare you the rest of our soapbox about the issue and just let you know that we'll keep an eye out on Auburn/NCAA story and see if anything further develops.

**Update**--The AJC says they spoke to Foster's mom Monday morning, who confirmed the report. They contacted her later in the day, and she would not elaborate on what actually happened. 

PM UPDATE: Jay G. Tate over at Auburnsports.com is saying the meeting was only with the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) and NOT the NCAA as previously indicated by the AJC and other news outlets:

From JayG.

Reuben Foster and his mother on Monday met with officials from the Alabama High School Athletic Association as part of a routine evaluation of the linebacker's transfer to Auburn High earlier this year.

The AHSAA is conducting similar interviews with several players who changed schools in recent months, including defensive tackle Darius Page of Foley High, who is committed to Alabama.

Foster, who committed to Auburn in July, has not spoken with anyone from the NCAA, three sources confirmed to AuburnSports.com on Monday night. Those same sources said the NCAA isn't involved.