Ron Higgins on Coach $ and his recruiting of a Memphis WR....

[The Prowler]

Memphis Commercial Appeal
Ron Higgins

Fancy seeing you here

Just wondering when an SEC football coach is going to turn in Alabama coach Nick Saban on an apparent recruiting violation. Saban obtained a commitment from Mitchell receiver Keiwone Malone, a high school junior. The only problem is that other than a "bump" -- which is an accidental "hello, how are ya?"-- a coach can't have direct contact with a junior at the time that Saban did (before signing day for seniors on Feb. 4). That's a dead period (no contact) according to NCAA rules. Judging from the quotes given by Malone to the CA's Jason Smith, there was a face-to-face meeting and a selling job by Saban. Mitchell High didn't have any seniors that were being recruited by Saban, so his visit wasn't for that purpose. And it had to be more than a bump. When's the last time you heard a kid receive a scholarship offer and commit on a bump? The SEC office had no comment on the matter, other than to explain the bump rule. This wasn't a bump by the Saban. This was full-contact recruiting.

"The SEC office had no comment on the matter"

[RWS]

Hell, we're still waiting on the NCAA to come down on us from the "serious violations" back in 2007 after CNS was hired. Some shit supposedly happens every year that is going to be the downfall of Alabama Football.....yet never materializes. The article doesn't mention that CNS was invited to the school by the coach to watch/pickup film on some kids, which was legal. It doesn't mention that CNS was being walked to his car by the coach when the kid drove by, saw CNS, and stopped. This is where the bump rule comes into play. The kid wasn't even at the school while CNS was there otherwise. It doesn't mention the coach saying that CNS told the coach outright "I can't talk to him right now....". The kid wasn't even offered a scholarship until a date after CNS was at the school. When he called CNS to commit the day after signing day, they had a fairly lengthy conversation.

Imagine that, a negative story about CNS coming out of a Memphis newspaper after UT has claimed to have Memphis on lockdown. Reminds me of the stories coming out of the Tampa area after CNS left the dolphins. Gee, I wonder why the SEC office had no comment? What were they supposed to say? "That damned Nick Saban, at it again....we're going to toast his ass!". This is getting pretty sad.....

To see this columnist's blog, heres a link:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/feb/15/go-ahead-hum-this-trade/

To see the HS coach's side of it, heres a link:
http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/sports/1234797371244070.xml&coll=3

[The Prowler]

Gee, I wonder why the SEC office had no comment? What were they supposed to say?

I'm just guessing that there'll be another "Nick $aban" Rule....They'll probably just call it "Nick $aban II" Rule.

So, when Keiwone stated that when Coach $ got out of his truck (I'm guessing Ford) they "Bonded" a little and he liked what he was "telling him"....that's not against the "Bump" Rule? (This all happened after Keiwone stopped laughing at Coach $ for being a midget)

"I had on my Dolphins hat, and he liked my favorite team, so we kind of bonded a little bit," Malone told the Commercial Appeal last week. "And when he started talking to me, I started liking the stuff that he was saying."

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/feb/06/prep-football-keiwone-malone-commits-alabama/