Notebook: Martin sounds off on federal investigation into college hoops
The FBI investigation and ensuing court battles that have shed a bit of light on the scandalous underbelly of college basketball are now almost entirely concluded, meaning the ball is now in the NCAA’s court. The governing body of college athletics has announced formal investigations into several schools whose coaches and players surfaced during the investigation.
Missouri is not one of those schools, but during a sitdown with local reporters Thursday morning, Tigers head coach Cuonzo Martin offered some thoughts on the scandal, which centers around shoe companies funneling money to top recruits in order to steer them to certain college teams.
Like many around the sport, Martin hopes to see the guilty parties held accountable. So far, only one head coach, Louisville’s Rick Pitino, has been fired as a result of the federal investigation. Four assistant coaches, Chuck Person of Auburn, Tony Bland of USC, Emmanuel Richardson of Arizona and Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State, were charged by the federal government with fraud and corruption. All four coaches were eventually relieved of their duties, and a few other assistants, such as Kenny Johnson and Jordan Fair of Louisville, also lost their jobs amidst the investigation. Meanwhile, Arizona head coach Sean Miller and LSU coach Will Wade were reportedly caught on federal wiretap discussing payments to recruits, but both are currently still coaching.
Martin, who noted that all four assistant coaches charged by the feds are African Americans, would like to see others at the involved schools punished.
“If rules are being broken, then those universities should be accountable for their actions,” Martin said. “And not to make it sound black and white, but it appears to be there. When you have four coaches in the FBI stuff that happen to be black Americans but the head coaches are still okay….”
Martin acknowledged that he isn’t present with his assistants at all hours, but he largely dismissed the head coaches’ defense that they didn’t know someone on their staff was facilitating the illegal arrangements. The head of a program should be involved enough that he can smell fishy activity, Martin said.
“Everybody who comes into this program, I spent just as much time, if not more, with them as my assistants recruiting, just to get to know them, have a relationship and understand that part. So if a guy pulls up in a Mercedes Benz ... you’re aware of those things. You want to make sure if it doesn’t look right.”
That’s not to say Martin simply wants to see the heads of everyone involved in the scandal to roll. He would like to see the four charged assistant coaches given another opportunity in the coaching realm, saying they simply made a mistake. He also preached patience with the NCAA, which has caught some public flak for its inaction thus far. Martin, who is a member of the Division I men’s basketball oversight committee, said he has seen firsthand that the NCAA is pouring substantial resources its investigations. It had to wait for the federal government to conclude its investigation, plus, as Martin noted, it doesn’t have the same resources available as the FBI.
“I think the NCAA is working extremely hard,” he said. “I do. Because I’m behind the scenes now. I see what takes place.”
Like virtually everyone else in the sport, Martin is simply waiting to see what unfolds next. Regardless of the penalties levied by the NCAA, however, he thinks the ultimate responsibility lies with the athletics directors and presidents at the involved universities. Those who hired the rule-breakers must remove them or themselves face removal.
Martin also said that, just because other programs may appear to have gotten away with malfeasance, he doesn’t believe a message is sent that coaches should start shirking NCAA rules. Playing things by the book, he said, is part of “who you are.” “That doesn’t change overnight,” he added.
While history would suggest it’s unlikely most coaches share Martin’s sentiment, or at least embody it, Martin assured that he will continue to steer clear of scandal.
“When they let me go, it will be because he didn’t win enough. It won’t be because of that stuff.” He added, with a chuckle, “It’s already hard enough to sleep.”
Other notes from the sitdown:
* Martin said that junior guard Mark Smith is no longer wearing a boot around his surgically repaired left ankle, and Smith is able to participate in all forms of basketball activities aside from running. Smith injured the ankle against Arkansas in late January, and after he tried to return to the court later in the season but was still visibly hampered by the injury, he opted to undergo surgery in March. The injury isn’t expected to limit him at all by the start of the season. Smith averaged 11.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game a season ago while shooting a team-high 45 percent from three-point range.
* The graduate transfer market has become a major factor in college basketball over the past few seasons, but for the second year in a row, Missouri didn’t add an graduate transfer player to its roster. Asked if the coaching staff ever pursued one, Martin said no. His reasoning: he feels comfortable with the depth of the team already, especially in the backcourt. Plus, he didn’t want to upset the team chemistry. “What I try to stay away from sometimes, and it’s not always easy, is stockpiling, so now you don’t have unhappy guys,” Martin explained. “… We just felt like there was no point to it, because you have a lot of friction and now nobody’s happy. I’ll take my chances with what we have.”
* While Missouri still has one of its 13 allotted scholarships available, another reason Martin didn’t feel compelled to add an additional player during the spring was because he doesn’t envision a regular rotation of more than nine players. While he said each of the 12 current members of the roster has the ability to contribute, he wants the major players to be “in the rotation, comfortable with their minutes, understanding what’s going on.” The only reason more than nine players might see regular playing time, Martin said, is if something “special” occurs, or in cases of foul trouble and injury.
* Speculation has persisted that assistant coach Michael Porter Sr. could either leave the coaching staff or be assigned to a different role now that his sons Michael Porter Jr. and Jontay Porter are both gone from the roster. Martin shot that down Thursday, saying his staff will be “the same.” Porter Sr. is entering the final season of his three-year, $1.125 million contract.