New reason to Hate Bob Huggins

[Russ Smith]

Just Hugs being Hugs? Practice not illegal, but not right
March 28, 2006
By Gregg Doyel
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Gregg your opinion!





Less than a week on the job at Kansas State, and Bob Huggins is already being Bob Huggins. In other words, he's doing whatever it takes to win. Win at all costs? No, not quite that -- but close. Awfully, awfully close.

Huggins' staff composition already has one package deal in the makings -- hire a coach, get a player -- with the mother of all package deals in the works for one year from now.


It didn't take long for Bob Huggins' first questionable move. (AP)
As far as the NCAA is concerned, there's nothing illegal about the kind of package deal Huggins is blatantly pursuing by hiring Dalonte Hill away from Charlotte. Hill, a nondescript assistant for the 49ers, is joining Huggins' staff for one reason, and one reason only: Hill is tight with Michael Beasley, one of the top five players from the high school class of 2007.

How tight? Beasley is a 6-foot-9 small forward -- think Carmelo Anthony, only bigger -- who could play anywhere in America, and last year he committed to play for little ol' Charlotte.

That tight.

Beasley won't go to Charlotte now, of course. He'll go to Kansas State. Nothing has been announced, and nothing is official, but that's what the hiring of Dalonte Hill really means. It has nothing to do with Dalonte Hill. It has everything to do with Michael Beasley.

Worst of all? To get Beasley, Huggins stuck a metaphorical knife in Bobby Lutz's back.

Lutz is the coach at Charlotte, and when Huggins was run out of Cincinnati in August, Lutz was immediately rumored to be one of the candidates that Cincinnati would consider. Lutz took care of that in September when he attended a roast for Huggins in Cincinnati and took a shot at UC president Nancy Zimpher.

"America is a great country," Lutz said, "because if Nancy Zimpher can be president of the University of Cincinnati, anything is possible."

That was Lutz sticking up for Huggins at Huggins' lowest point. So how does Huggins repay Lutz? By hiring away Dalonte Hill, which means stealing -- yes, stealing -- Charlotte's most highly regarded recruit in program history, Michael Beasley. With Beasley in two years, Lutz has the kind of Atlantic 10 team George Washington had this season: dominant. But this isn't about Lutz. This is about Huggins.

A Kansas State spokesman told CBS SportsLine.com that Huggins was on the road recruiting, and unavailable for comment. Hill also was unavailable. Kansas State athletics director Tim Weiser was available, and while he didn't embrace the notion of a package deal (Hill and Beasley) he defended Huggins' right to hire his staff as he sees fit.

"We're always going to be concerned about perception, but it's the issue of perception vs. reality," Weiser said. "Every head coach I've hired (in every sport), I've allowed them to hire who they want as assistant coaches unless they have NCAA baggage. Unless there's NCAA violations or criminal history with an assistant coach, I allow my head coaches to make that hire."

Weiser went on to point out that "package deals" -- or the perception of them -- happen all over college basketball. Indeed, it happened last year at Kansas State, when Jim Wooldridge tried to hire at least two junior college coaches (who had recruits available) before hiring Detroit high school coach Ben Kelso ... and then signing Kelso's best player, Deilvez Yearby.

Down the road, Kansas has a history of (perceived) package deals -- from Larry Brown hiring Danny Manning's father in 1983 to Bill Self hiring Mario Chalmers' father last year.

Package deals happen. They're not illegal, though they should be. Here's why: A college coach cannot give a recruit $5 without being guilty of a recruiting violation. But a college coach can hire a staff member for $120,000, knowing full well that the staff member will help bring a blue-chip recruit? That's not illegal, but it's ugly as hell.

But Huggins isn't done. The same people who told CBS SportsLine.com about Huggins' pursuit of Dalonte Hill last week also confirm Huggins' next package deal -- and it's enormous.

Next year Huggins plans to hire Dwaine Barnes, probably as his director of basketball operations.

Who is Dwaine Barnes? He's the AAU coach and legal guardian of 6-4 point guard O.J. Mayo and 6-5 shooting guard Bill Walker of North College Hill (Ohio), two future NBA All-Stars who will spend one year on campus -- at Kansas State, once Huggins hires Barnes. Mayo is the best point guard prospect since Jason Kidd. Walker is a Vince Carter-like athlete.

In two years, Kansas State could have a starting lineup of 7-2 Jason Bennett at center, Beasley and 6-9 Herb Pope at forward, with Mayo and Walker at guard. Five years from now, that lineup could win in the NBA.

Huggins is no joke. He didn't go to Kansas State to win a little. He went there to win big, and if he can stay out of trouble, he'll do just that. His hiring was controversial, but at his introductory news conference Huggins defended himself with his misleadingly soft voice.

"I don't think I'm a bad guy," Huggins told the Kansas City Star. "If you go and talk to people who know me, you won't find anybody who says bad things."

Really? Anyone got Bobby Lutz's number?

 

[Renz]

Huggins is a scumbag, but I'm not gonna shed any tears for Bobby Lutz.

 

[AZBALLER]

The funny thing is that he will turn K-State into a winner...Will he get them into trouble? Maybe or maybe not...Is the risk worth it?

 

[Southpaw]

Bob Huggins is going to Basketball's. arguably murkiest coaching conference. Home of soon to be gone Kelvin Sampson, Eddie " the drunk " Sutton, Bobby "Bully Boy" Knight. Who can forget Larry Eustachy?

He might not even be noticed.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Manhattan is so far off the beaten path that Huggy might be able to get away with a lot of stuff he couldn't at Cincinnati. That guy is the epitome of what's wrong with college basketball.

 

[Southpaw]

Manhattan is so far off the beaten path that Huggy might be able to get away with a lot of stuff he couldn't at Cincinnati. That guy is the epitome of what's wrong with college basketball.

What is the over/under on how soon K State goes on probation. ?

If the NCAA investigation on Huggins @ Cincy puts a penalty on him, it will carry over to K State when or if he is put on sanction as a coach. Same thing with Sampson at Indiana. These ADs are either desperate , stupid or have inside info to take on coaches under investigation.

P.S; But what in Hell do I know, I am in last place in the ASFN tourney standings,

 

[Southpaw]

Woo hoo. I just checked. I am in 12th place. I have LSU left in the final 4.

 

[Russ Smith]

What is the over/under on how soon K State goes on probation. ?

If the NCAA investigation on Huggins @ Cincy puts a penalty on him, it will carry over to K State when or if he is put on sanction as a coach. Same thing with Sampson at Indiana. These ADs are either desperate , stupid or have inside info to take on coaches under investigation.

P.S; But what in Hell do I know, I am in last place in the ASFN tourney standings,

In fact OU is already being investigated for phone calls placed by Sampson and his staff that violated recruiting rules, over 350 calls apparently. And it hasn't been determined yet if those violations will follow him to IU or not.

Sure hope so, otherwise the message to coaches is cheat, and when you get caught, take a new job and start over with a clean slate.

I don't know anything about Lutz, Renz is he not so clean himself?

 

[Southpaw]

Jay Mariotti
No clean ending to Indiana coaching search

March 29, 2006

BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST



So Indiana has hired a basketball coach who is running from the NCAA police, some statement for a university that employed a player-choking, chair-throwing madman for three decades. What the Hoosiers needed this time was a problem-free hire, salve for the war wounds after Bob Knight's trail of terror and Mike Davis' turbulent journey through unfair booster treatment, racism and mixed results.

Instead, in naming Kelvin Sampson, a troubled program only invites more trouble.

It might shock you to learn that Sampson, long established as an industry leader and dogged recruiter at Oklahoma, is part of an ongoing investigation with too much dirt for my tastes. The NCAA alleges that Sampson and his Oklahoma staff, during a period from April 2000 to September 2004, made more than 550 impermissible phone calls to recruits and three impermissible in-person contacts with recruits. Were there under-the-table payments? Maseratis for mowing lawns? Mansions for their moms? Not that anyone knows of, anyway. But the NCAA said that Sampson didn't adequately monitor the flurry of communication while making more than 200 calls himself, which, in the infractions world, means his ship was loosely run.

The Oklahoma administration was distressed enough to issue its own sanctions in January, trying to appease the NCAA by imposing a two-year probation, reducing scholarships, limiting off-campus recruiting and freezing Sampson's salary and bonuses. The NCAA enforcers weren't impressed, demanding the presence of school officials at a hearing next month in Utah. Why should any of this concern your basic Knight-worshipping, red-covered Hoosier Head? If it's decided after the hearing that Oklahoma deserves sanctions above and beyond its self-imposed punishment, Indiana would be required by the NCAA legal book to impose the same penalties. At the very least, Sampson would be pressed to plead Indiana's case, with no certainty of any sympathetic ears.

Just so you have this straight, then, the immediate future of Indiana basketball might be at the mercy of an infractions committee. The new coach -- a former president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, of all things -- might land the program in doo-doo before he coaches his first game. The last thing this regime needs, in one of the most pressurized hot spots in college basketball, is an unlevel field in recruiting. Which begs an urgent question for Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan.

What the hell were you thinking here, guy?

A marriage of convenience

I realize the Indiana job has lost appeal, that big shooters such as Mark Few and John Calipari only feigned interest when contacted by search-committee members. When Gonzaga and Memphis are considered better positions in 2006, what does it say about facilities issues and general fan psychosis at Indiana? That said, it's still Indiana, in the Big Ten, where a program that has avoided the long arm of the law -- Knight played by the rules of the NCAA, if not the rules of life -- shouldn't have to gamble on Sampson's baggage and potential liabilities. Yes, the man led a football school to perennial 20-victory seasons and nine consecutive NCAA tournaments, including a Final Four appearance in 2002. But in a quirky indictment that makes this hire even more curious, Sampson and the Sooners were spanked by Davis and Indiana in the 2002 national semifinals. His record in the tournament is a dicey 11-12, with several upset losses to the likes of No. 11 seed Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which eliminated Oklahoma in the first round this month.

He needed an escape hatch.

Indiana needed a big name who wouldn't say no.

So a match was made in murky crimson.

Lately, the color has resembled bloody red. Since Knight wrapped his hand around Neil Reed's neck and began his long-deserved demise, Indiana basketball has been a house divided. Always firmly united around Knight's fury, the community became fractured during the tenure of Davis, who received only scant love even when he was coaching for the national championship. When he occasionally suggested racism as a problem in rallying fans around him, it was astonishing how so few balked at his claim. More to the point, what many folks wanted was a reattachment to the glory days -- if not to Knight directly, then to a disciple such as Steve Alford, the pride of New Castle, Ind.

Davis looks better all the time

But Greenspan didn't want Alford, wisely seeing through his mediocre NCAA record as a merely decent coach at Iowa. It then was assumed he would pursue ex-Hoosier Randy Wittman, an Orlando Magic assistant endorsed by billionaire alum Mark Cuban -- someone they had better keep happy -- and Isiah Thomas, whatever his word is worth these days. Yet Greenspan apparently wasn't interested in plucking fruit off the Knight tree, not necessarily a bad idea when it's the 21st century and Hoosier people need to move on. When Few and Calipari weren't biting, couldn't Greenspan have continued his search? Or did he succumb to the curse of trying to make a big splash when the Final Four is up the road this weekend in Indianapolis?

Whatever the rationale, the natives aren't too happy. They know Sampson's name, but they're smart enough in Indiana to know about the investigation and the March record. Disgustingly, some also complain that Sampson, too, is a man of color, a Native American, which might explain why some posts were purged from Indiana basketball message boards after the news leaked Tuesday.

The new man can quiet the unrest by doing what he does best: teaching defense, preaching rugged ball, recruiting well nationally, winning games and developing a consistent program. But will any of it matter if the smoke explodes into a firestorm? CBS SportsLine.com reported that the NCAA has been probing Oklahoma since 2002, showing particular interest in a questionable association between Sampson's program and a club program called Athletes First. Through Sooners assistant Ray Lopes, who eventually was run out of Fresno State after allegedly making -- you guessed it -- hundreds of impermissible phone calls to recruits, Sampson's program landed star Kevin Bookout and other players via Athletes First.

If it seems like so much ancient news, it's not. Until the NCAA hearing comes and goes in four weeks without a ripple, Indiana will have reason to sweat. I've heard of strange hires in sports, but never a situation where a coach on the lam tries to seek refuge in another bunker. Problem is, the NCAA knows exactly where to find him.

Amazing how good Mike Davis looks today, doesn't it? For going on 40 years, Indiana basketball has been a blur of controversy. Nothing changes with Kelvin Sampson.

 

[Renz]

I don't know anything about Lutz, Renz is he not so clean himself?

Not that I know of. My comment was more in reference to Lutz being a pal of Huggins and Lutz's mocking of the Cincinnati president.

If you are going to buddy up to a guy like Huggins you shouldn't be surprised when he stabs you in the back.

 

[Russ Smith]

Not that I know of. My comment was more in reference to Lutz being a pal of Huggins and Lutz's mocking of the Cincinnati president.

If you are going to buddy up to a guy like Huggins you shouldn't be surprised when he stabs you in the back.

Gotcha. And yes I agree, if you defend the devil you can't complain when he screws you over later.