Winning Scheme

On this week's Hang Up And Listen, the fellas discuss the NBA's age minimum, and raise the question of whether the policy corrupts college teams, tempting them to lure elite "one-and-done" recruits, either with illegal bribes or compromised academics. Some might point out that the NCAA has harsh penalties to discourage this type of corruption, but those penalties haven't prevented scandals with some of the highest profile one-year recruits of recent history. 

The way the penalties are set up, the system falls victim to the classic David Simon scenario, in which the incentives of those in power are at odds with the institutions they serve.  In this case, the men in power are the basketball coaches, and the institutions are the basketball programs;  the coaches can get a big boost to their careers by cheating, meanwhile, the penalties fall mostly on the programs, and when the axe comes down, the coaches are quick to skip town, just like their mercenary recruits.

Tim Floyd and OJ Mayo, Floyd pictured imitating a turtle.

On the podcast, Josh Levin mentions former USC coach Tim Floyd, who'd landed future number-three draft pick OJ Mayo on behalf of the Trojans.  Shortly after Mayo's only year on the team, Floyd was accused of having helped to bribe him to come to USC; Floyd responded by quitting his job, citing a loss of "enthousiasm".  As a result of the corruption, the Trojans vacated all of their victories from Mayo's season, withdrew their postseason eligibility for the following year, and forfeited a scholarship for each of the next two seasons.  Floyd quickly moved on to take an assistant coaching job with the New Orleans Hornets.

John Calipari and Derrick Rose; Rose would later disavow affiliation with the Gangster Disciples, calling into question his devotion to the team concept.

While at Memphis, John Calipari landed future number-one draft pick Derrick Rose, who helped propel them to a 38-win season and a Final Four appearance.  Later it was revealed that Rose had cheated on his SATs, and Memphis had to forfeit its wins from that season, but by that time, Calipari had already moved on, using his success at Memphis as a springboard to an 8-year, $31.65 million contract to coach the prestigious Kentucky Wildcats.  Calipari may not have known that Rose had cheated, but this SI article points to a pattern in Calipari's behavior, suggesting that his whole career strategy is based around compromising a program's integrity, then fleeing the scene before its time to face the consequences.

Kelvin Sampson and Eric Gordon, Sampson pictured as guy smiling like he's getting away with something.

While at Indiana, Kelvin Sampson pulled in Eric Gordon, a future number-seven pick, who'd previously committed to Illinois.  This recruitment of a committed player was widely considered to be unethical, one of his ploys was hiring a family friend of Gordon as an assistant coach, but Sampson wasn't punished for the Gordon affair.  Instead he got caught making illegal phone calls to other recruits; this was shocking (but perhaps unsurprising) because he'd been caught committing the exact same crime while coaching at Oklahoma just a few years prior.  Sampson's actions at Oklahoma had landed them under a 3-year NCAA investigation, and as atonement they'd offered up a voluntary sacrifice, but Sampson skipped town midway through the penance:

"Sampson did escape some punishment with his move to Indiana after 12 seasons with the Sooners.  Oklahoma's self-imposed sanctions included cutting two scholarships last season and one next -- but those penalties will not transfer to Indiana."  - ESPN.com

After getting caught at Indiana, Sampson ended up resigning in the middle of the season, but only after receiving a $750,000 buyout from the Hoosiers, and he left the team in disarray: they'd started the season 22-4, but lost four of their last seven after he stepped down.  Ultimately the NCAA imposed 3 years of probation on the Hoosiers, and banned Sampson from coaching in the NCAA for five years; this seems like a victory for justice until you realize that within one month of resigning, he got a job consulting for the San Antonio Spurs, and two months after that he was hired as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks.

In the aftermath at Indiana, people wondered why they hired a guy who'd had a record of deliberate corruption.  Indiana trustee Phillip Eskew Jr said, "In retrospect, I think there should have been greater considerations.  But you talk to the man and he says, 'I'm not going to do that,' and I believe in giving guys second chances."

This David Simon scenario is not confined to college basketball and Baltimore; its the same type of institutional perversity that led to the Wall Street collapse of 2008.  Corporate CEOs had a financial incentive to take huge risks on bogus securities, but the penalties for failure fell mostly on the banks they served, so the CEOs made off with hundreds of million dollars before causing a disaster for the shareholders.  Somehow, their reputations are intact while the banks are in ruin, and they've not only escaped punishment, they continue to find employment and receive huge paydays.

Society loves to give second chances to these coaches and CEOs; they get the benefit of the doubt despite being proven guilty time and time again.  Its almost as though they're granted magical auras of protection by virtue of wearing power suits.  If you look at suits in general, they seem to be worn specifically for the purpose of warding off danger:  you have the bomb suit, the hazmat suit, and the suit of armor.

Suit! Suit! Suit!

 

The major exception is the prison jumpsuit: while awaiting trial and during pretrial hearings, a prisoner is forced to wear the telltale orange suit, so that everyone views the inmate as dangerous.  But during the trial, the prisoner is presumed innocent, meaning the court must allow him to dress like a CEO or basketball coach, the members of society who are always given the benefit of the doubt.  Only the dumbest of the dumb would show up to court wearing a basketball jersey, if you have half a brain, you don the magical power suit of protection.

The NBA and NCAA should form an agreement where the NBA respects any coaching bans handed down by the NCAA.  They should also agree that any coach who lands a program on probation should be held under suspicion during that duration, and wherever he may be coaching, he should be forced to wear a prison jumpsuit so we all know to keep an eye on him.

 Orange Shirt:  when prison guards go hunting, do they get the impulse to shoot other hunters?