Possible Secondary Violation By Coach K

[CameronBornAndBred]

Bleah...you would think as well as he knows the books, this would not have happened.

Duke's scholarship offer to rising senior forward Alex Poythress has triggered questions into whether Blue Devils Coach Mike Krzyzewski committed a secondary violation of NCAA rules.

Poythress, a 6-7 forward from Clarksville, Tenn., told CBSSports.com that he spoke with Krzyzewski on Tuesday night, while in Orlando with his Georgia Stars AAU team, and received the offer.
According to an NCAA recruiting primer posted on the National Association of Basketball Coaches website on July 7, NCAA rules prohibit coaches from "having contact at any location with prospects, family members of prospects, prospect's coaches (nonscholastic and scholastic) and anyone associated with a prospect" during certified events, such as the Super Showcase and AAU National Tournament.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2011 ... by_coach_k

[Bob Green]

This story was broken by Kentucky Sports Radio so I'm not believing there is anything to it; however, if Coach K did commit a violation, I'm 100 percent confident he will own up and take full responsibility for his actions. Chris Collins committed a minor violation last year or the year before and Duke immediately self reported. This one will blow right over.

[YmoBeThere]

Yeah, seems a little odd that he would make the offer at a summer tournament without a visit, etc.

[Very Duke Blue]

This is not good news.

[YmoBeThere]

Further details, the person offered appears to have been contacted between tournaments. Technically, this may not be a violation.

[CameronBornAndBred]

This story was broken by Kentucky Sports Radio so I'm not believing there is anything to it; however, if Coach K did commit a violation, I'm 100 percent confident he will own up and take full responsibility for his actions. Chris Collins committed a minor violation last year or the year before and Duke immediately self reported. This one will blow right over.

I'm not worried about it, it's a stupid rule. But the fact that Duke is looking into it makes it more legitimate than "just a rumor tossed out there by an opposing fan". Gotta watch out for them folks, they will go so far as to proofread your paper.

[Very Duke Blue]

Further details, the person offered appears to have been contacted between tournaments. Technically, this may not be a violation.

This makes more sense. I do hope this is cleared up very soon.

[Jesus_hurley]

The contact was between 2 tournaments held in the same city/arena. Apparently there is nothing in the rule book that covers this - the rule stipulates that contact can occur once the team disbands at the close of a tournament. Coach K waited until all games of the first tournament were completed and then the recruit called him, and Coach K offered a scholarship. In a normal situation nothing would come of this, but with a second tournament in the same location there are questions around if the recruit's aau team was ever disbanded between the two events.

While it may come to pass that Duke is docked a couple of recruiting days for a secondary offense, I would bet that the rule gets updated to include the possibility of multiple tournaments in the same location to avoid any potential issues like this from happening again.


The alleged recruiting violation is believed to have occurred because of misinterpretation of NCAA bylaw 13.1.6.2(d) which states:
"Contact shall not be made with the prospective student-athlete involved in competition that requires participation on consecutive days (e.g., a tournament) until after his or her final contest is completed and he or she is released by the appropriate institutional authority and leaves the dressing and meeting facility. Contact shall not be made with a prospective student-athlete involved in a tournament that is not conducted on consecutive days until after his or her final contest is completed on a day before a break in the days of the tournament and he or she is released by the appropriate institutional authority and leaves the dressing and meeting facility"

NCAA bylaw 13.1.6.2(e) states that:
"Contact with a prospective student-athlete who is on an extended road trip (e.g., traveling with a team from one contest or event to another), is permitted at the conclusion of a competition and prior to the commencement of travel to the next competition, provided he or she has been released by the appropriate institutional authority and departs the dressing and meeting facility;"

In other words, since the offer came after the recruit had played in the final game of the first event and before the start of the second, this shouldn't even be an issue.

[Very Duke Blue]

Sounds good JH. After reading this, sounds like K is is in the clear. Hope it turns out that way.

[devildeac]

The contact was between 2 tournaments held in the same city/arena. Apparently there is nothing in the rule book that covers this - the rule stipulates that contact can occur once the team disbands at the close of a tournament. Coach K waited until all games of the first tournament were completed and then the recruit called him, and Coach K offered a scholarship. In a normal situation nothing would come of this, but with a second tournament in the same location there are questions around if the recruit's aau team was ever disbanded between the two events.

While it may come to pass that Duke is docked a couple of recruiting days for a secondary offense, I would bet that the rule gets updated to include the possibility of multiple tournaments in the same location to avoid any potential issues like this from happening again.


The alleged recruiting violation is believed to have occurred because of misinterpretation of NCAA bylaw 13.1.6.2(d) which states:
"Contact shall not be made with the prospective student-athlete involved in competition that requires participation on consecutive days (e.g., a tournament) until after his or her final contest is completed and he or she is released by the appropriate institutional authority and leaves the dressing and meeting facility. Contact shall not be made with a prospective student-athlete involved in a tournament that is not conducted on consecutive days until after his or her final contest is completed on a day before a break in the days of the tournament and he or she is released by the appropriate institutional authority and leaves the dressing and meeting facility"

NCAA bylaw 13.1.6.2(e) states that:
"Contact with a prospective student-athlete who is on an extended road trip (e.g., traveling with a team from one contest or event to another), is permitted at the conclusion of a competition and prior to the commencement of travel to the next competition, provided he or she has been released by the appropriate institutional authority and departs the dressing and meeting facility;"

In other words, since the offer came after the recruit had played in the final game of the first event and before the start of the second, this shouldn't even be an issue.

Unless you are some disgruntled, asshat kin-tucky fan.

[Jesus_hurley]

Dana O'Neill's take:
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketba ... mply-inane

"Duke’s NCAA rules compliance office is seeking an interpretation from the NCAA as to whether a recruit can talk to a coach by phone if the recruit is not playing in a tournament but is still on the road, according to a source with knowledge of the situation."

That’s from a news story written by my colleague, Andy Katz, summarizing Mike Krzyzewski's current situation. At issue is whether the Duke coach violated an NCAA rule by contacting Alex Poythress after his team was eliminated from the Orlando Super Showcase.

The answer: Only if it was before noon on a cloudy Tuesday, and he was standing on one leg while singing the national anthem.

Seriously, if we are going to pick over the carcass of the rulebook this finely, then the rule itself is simply inane.

And before anyone starts to lob hand grenades and sees this as a defense of all things Krzyzewski and Duke, let me make one thing clear: This would be a stupid rule if any coach was accused of breaking it.